Amador County - While Mother Lode residents recover from a heavy winter storm Monday that dropped snow as low as 1000 feet, another warmer wave of winter weather is expected to dump rain and snow on Friday. This storm will bring a 90 percent chance of precipitation on Saturday, but no snow in lower elevations, according to the National Weather Service. As of Wednesday afternoon, there were still approximately 2,700 customers without power in the Calaveras-Amador-San Joaquin region, according to PG&E spokeswoman Nicole Liebelt. PG&E said none of these outages were concentrated in particular areas and were mainly attributed to isolated issues like downed tree limbs. Also on Wednesday, 12,000 customers were still without power in El Dorado County. Public schools were closed completely in Amador and Calaveras counties on Monday, and bus routes were limited Tuesday and Wednesday due to unsafe road conditions. But the severe weather isn’t isolated to California. Upper Midwest residents braced themselves Wednesday as a storm of snow, ice, wind and rain closed most schools and businesses and killed at least 12 people. The weather service said the storm was Iowa’s worst since 1996. Des Moines had 14.7 inches of snow by 7 a.m. Wednesday. Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle declared a state of emergency as the state rode out blizzard-like conditions. Hundreds of schools across New York's eastern half were closed and almost 50,000 upstate utility customers were without electricity. Snowfall was very heavy in Maine during the day, with accumulations of up to two feet expected in the state’s western mountains. Caltrans is reminding residents that chains are required on all vehicles except 4-wheel-drive vehicles with snow tires on most open roadways in the higher elevations. Due to the icy and snow covered roadways, residents are asked to limit their travels to essential travel only. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.