California still continues to unbury itself after multiple snowstorms dropped not inches but literally multiple feet of snow over its mountainous terrain occupied by infrastructure and residents alike.

Photo Credit (below) | CAL FIRE

This storm which dumped over the State of California occurred mostly over one week ago and it has taken the State much longer than anticipated to help with snow removal of roadways and homes, checking on its residents, and clearing hundreds, if not thousands of accidents and fallen trees.

Photo Credit (below) | CAL FIRE

This is the Sit Rep for Sunday, March 5, 2023.

INCIDENT COOPERATORS

Incident Cooperators are agencies that work together with the same like-minded objectives and usually are present during large incidents, such as wildfires. In this case, agencies are coming together for a much larger and heavy usage of resources

These include:

  • CAL FIRE
  • CA DOC
  • CA OES
  • CHP
  • San Bernardino County
  • San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office
  • San Bernardino County Fire Department
  • CA National Guard
  • American Red Cross

CLEARING MAJOR ICICLES

Photo Credit (below) | CAL FIRE

BAD WEATHER AND EVEN MORE TERRIBLE ROADWAYS

Agencies working together during the devastating and overwhelming amount of snow the State has received and has large numbers of committed personnel, equipment, and resources which include those from CAL FIRE (San Bernardino/Inyo/Mono Unit), CHP, Caltrans (DOT), CA Dept. of Corrections (Prison Imate Firefighters), California National Guard and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (CAOES).

Roadways were treacherous, even for this CAL FIRE pickup. You can see in this photo, the heavy snow-covered roads.

Photo Credit (below) | CAL FIRE

CHAINS ARE REQUIRED FOR ALL VEHICLES

Chaining up your rig is necessary to respond to calls like this engine (2383). Notice how deep the snow is, but not compared to other locations where it is much deeper.

Photo Credit (below) | CAL FIRE

SNOWCATS BREAKING THE BARRIER

Specialized Equipment, such as snowcats are needed because normal fire engines and other apparatus cannot travel on this deep of snow or they with either get stuck or freeze in position. These machines are also used for backcountry operations, where regular apparatus may not be able to go.

Photo Credit (below) | San Bernardino County Fire Department

DIGGING OUT INFRASTRUCTURE

Because there are so many feet of snow, burying not only the homes but its own infrastructure, which fire crews are trying to dig out like these guys are doing in this photo.

Photo Credit (below) | CAL FIRE

CLEARING ROADWAYS AND A PATH FOR TRAVEL

Firefighters are hard-working with it comes to literally digging out roadways to allow for travel. These guys are clearing the way for any possible vehicles or snowcats to drive up.

Photo Credit | CA DOC

A local business is literally dug out from underneath the snow it has covered and there aren’t really many places to move it to, so it becomes large snowbanks.

According to the El Dorado County DOT, Maintenance and Operations workers are staffing the slope areas 24/7 of the County.

West Slope: crews continue to plow higher elevations and are addressing roadways concerns or issues. Slick roads will be sanded.

South Lake Tahoe: Night crews continued to plow and will be sanding the main and secondary roads as a priority. Tahoma and Rubicon Bay are on the west shore and they took will be plowed and have a blower in the area.

Photo Credit | El Dorado County

This image (below) was captured by Caltrans District 3 in South Lake Tahoe, California where ice and snow have visibly piled up. This occurred on March 2, 2023, on Hwy 50 over Echo Summit the night before.

Photo Credit | Caltrans District 3

LOOKING THROUGH THE EYES OF SOCIAL MEDIA – EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS

There are so much interesting tales that need to be told so we are sharing through the eyes of social media what those are reporting and sharing through photos and footage.

Too Much Snow

When you have a snow bank higher than you, you gotta capture it to show proof or it didn’t happen. | Photo Credit: @TahoeWeather

Weather forecasters: “South Lake Tahoe is buried under feet of snow, and there’s more where that came from!” – Weather Nationa

South Lake Tahoe received about 12 feet of snow the past week. Luis was at the Club every single day snow blowing, shoveling, and taking the snow off of the roof. We can’t thank him enough for his efforts and for keeping everyone safe!

Photo Credit | Boys & Girls Club of Lake Tahoe

“2+ feet last night. South Lake Tahoe.” – Resident

“So much snow they closed the ski areas today!!” – Skiers

Roadways Are Closed to Skiers and All

“All roads closed.” – Driver (Hwy50 at Meyers and North Hwy 50 at Twin Bridges)”

“Blizzard buries Lake Tahoe, California, in deep snow. Homes were buried to the point they look like igloos from the historic snow season.” – Accuweather

FUN FACT | Snowpack is important for the region’s water supply as it provides the majority of water for 20 million California and over 60 million people in the western U.S. – News Media Outlet

Resorts With Massive Amounts of Snow

Heavenly Mountain, a ski resort is reporting they may have broken a big record of snowfall on Friday but another storm was due to hit the area with high winds and heavy snow.

They closed the Gondola, the top of the Gondola lifts, and the tamarack Lodge on Friday, March 4th for the safety of their customers. They state when they experience wind gusts over 100 mph on their exposed upper-mountain lifts, they simply cannot operate safely.

When operations are back in effect, parking lots tend to fill up quickly, as well as the roadways being very unstable. There is a requirement to have our vehicle chained up or is a 4WD with snow tires to access their base areas. The resort is also asking you to bring a shovel or other items to help dig yourself out should you get stuck in the snow.

Photo Credit (left) | Heavenly Mountain

Snow Totals are Unprecedented

In total, Los Angeles saw four inches, while Beverly Hills received 6″ of snow.

Lake Tahoe received up to four feet and Donner Summit reported a whopping 141.9″ in the last week This is considered to be the snowiest snowfall since the 1951-52 season in history since the UC Berkley Central Sierra Snow Lab has been keeping records.

(c) 2023 NW Fire Blog