Snowy Roads in the Mountains This Morning
![Snow lines the roadway on Berry Summit this morning. [Image from Caltrans traffic cam]](https://kymkemp.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/snow-299.png)
Snow lines the roadway on Berry Summit this morning. [Image from Caltrans traffic cam]
Hwy 199 near Collier’s Tunnel towards the Oregon border is snowy this morning. [Image from Caltrans traffic cam]
For Hwy 36 Caltrans reports, “Chains are required on all vehicles except passenger vehicles and light-duty trucks under 6,000 pounds gross weight and equipped with snow tires on at least two drive wheels. Chains must be carried by vehicles using snow tires. All vehicles towing trailers must have chains on one drive axle. Trailers with brakes must have chains on at least one axle.”
Chains are required on Titlow Hill Road for the first five miles. After that the road is not maintained.
Titlow Hill yesterday. [Photo from Deputy R. Willoughby and the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department’s Facebook page]
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Some old family wisdom from the north coast: “A dry winter is a cold winter”. “Four inches of rain in May is better than a wet winter”.
Absolutley.
Well, alas, Ernie, that may have been true a few decades ago (don’t feel bad; I’m as old as you are). I’m happy to see precip any time, but with a succession of extreme drought years, even four inches in May — if we get that much — no longer makes up for a dry winter. It does forestall the start of fire season and provide a little more water for a little longer, but it also encourages late growth, especially of grass. The grass will dry out soon enough, and it will be longer and thicker and therefore more likely to catch fire and spread fire hotter and faster than shorter, sparser grass. So from the fire standpoint it’s really not an advantage.
Actually there have been only three drought years on the north coast in the last ten years. And most of the other years were above average. In fact the average rainfall for the last 30 years is higher than for the thirty years preceding. From a fire standpoint, mow your fields or put livestock on them. That’s what was done in the days ranching dominated instead of pot growing. Livestock kept the brush understory trimmed ,too.I love seeing the mountains all covered with snow this time of year. Late storms are good in this summer drought country. As for the rest of California, except for the Cascades and Northern Sierras,it’s almost always in a drought. That’s a big problem since its sporting over 30 million people now with natural water supplies incapable of serving that multitude.
They said 2-4 inches so I took the family to town for Mothers Day. We returned to find 12-14! Can’t believe we didn’t spend the night up there and got home!
We just canceled an extended-family campout outside Weaverville for later this week and weekend. Looks like it may have been justified. I’ll still play in the snow all day long, even play hooky for it, but, I’m long past the days of camping in it. Even worse, the devil’s very curse, is cold rain.
Whether you’re going to it, getting through it, or coming from it, please be safe.