Snow began to fall New Year’s Eve, 2022, and has continued off and on since then. This is my backyard filled with snow, broken limbs, sagging bushes and a gorgeous sunrise. The Pine Nuts Range is visible in the distant background. This is what January 2 looked like. Remember: This snow all has to go someplace.January 17, 2023. Lake Stephanie has begun to form. We call it that because Stephanie Way (to the left out of the photo) is one of the main streets to get into the Johnson Lane area. It is created each year we have run off from the Pine Nuts. Interestingly enough, there are no snow telemetry instruments in the Pine Nuts. Ergo, we do not know how much snow is in the mountain range. We are concerned as we know there is too much snow to be totally absorbed into the ground.It has begun. Warm rains have melted a lot of snow and Lake Stephanie has begun to breach its bank (Stephanie Way). There is no way to control it, save a million sandbags.I turned around from the previous photo to watch a torrent of water rush into a gated community that is a mere 250 yards from my house. This is usually an area where people walk on a paved path that circumvents the gated community. I am positive those houses beyond the second fence were flooded to some degree.This is Heybourne Road, normally a dirt road that connects Stephanie Way to Johnson Lane. I am pretty sure this water is at least 12 to 18″ deep as this is the western side of Lake Stephanie. All of this is a natural drainage path from the Pine Nuts that would naturally drain to the Carson River. But streets, a railroad bed, sometimes willy-nilly construction have all contributed to the natural drainage being dammed. Meetings have been held, solutions discussed and few actual projects have actually been accomplished. At least we do not have to worry about this much snow and runoff. This is down south near Mammoth that has also had near record or record snow. I’m very glad I don’t have to shovel that snow! As I look at these pictures and marvel at nature and its power, I wonder what my uncle, the flood control expert, would have said and done about our situation.
buzzardnotes 