Amador County - Thousands of residents throughout the Mother Lode were still without power almost a day after a winter storm wreaked havoc across Northern California. In Calaveras and Amador counties, approximately 25,000 combined were affected by outages. According to Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), the majority of outages in Amador County were restored as of Tuesday morning. Some residents Upcountry were still reporting minor power breaks Tuesday morning, mostly due to snow and fallen tree limbs. In Calaveras County, an outage in Mokelumne Hill held up to 500 residents in the dark as of 5 pm Tuesday afternoon, and another outage in West Point was affecting up to 50 people. According to the National Weather Service, the unusually heavy storm front occurred when a dry air mass from Canada combined with moisture from the Pacific Ocean. The system was so cold it brought snow to lower elevations. Snow was reported as far west as Rancho Murieta. More than two feet of snow fell in the Pioneer area. The storm was good news for ski resorts. Kirkwood Mountain Resort reported 28 to 40 inches of snowfall. The arrival of Sunday's storm has delivered over three feet of snow,” said Julie Koster, Kirkwood’s Director of Sales and Marketing. 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.
Tuesday, 08 December 2009 23:28