Winter Storm Warnings have been posted for the Sierra Nevada beginning at 8:00 pm Thursday and going through 4:00 pm Saturday. The first of the two storms moves in tonight and is forecast to bring 18 -  24 inches of snow above 7000 feet. The second storm moves in Saturday dropping snow levels to 55oo feet and bringing and additional 8 – 15 inches of snow.

Hazardous driving conditions can be expected all weekend for the roads of the Sierra. If you’re heading into the mountains this weekend remember to carry your chains. Even if you have 4wd you must carry chains with you. If you’re stopped by CHP and don’t have chains you will be turned around and could face a $500 fine.

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February Photo of the Month: Eastern Sierra Reflected in Farmers Pond, Owens Valley CA

This month’s photo was taken February 10, 2005 out at Farmers Pond in California’s Owens Valley. Once again I was at the pond hoping to catch a nice sunset. The clouds looked great that evening and there was enough open sky over the mountains that I thought this would be an awesome one. Mother Nature had other plans though and the sunset colors never came. The reflections in the pond were so amazing though, I couldn’t let them go without getting some shots.

I’ve always loved the color version of this image. Even though the lighting wasn’t the greatest, the clouds and those reflections are so awesome. One night last year I decided to play around with this image in black and white. As I got deeper and deeper into the black and white I began to realize that this is what this image needed. The black and white captured what I’ve always loved about the image, the reflections and the way the clouds frame the mountains.

Ever since finding Farmers Pond back in the mid 90’s, I’ve tried to get a great reflection shot there. With the black and white version of this image I finally got it.

Prints of this image can be purchased at 25% off the regular price
through the end of February 2010.
Purchase Eastern Sierra Reflection

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Looks like the snow will begin to wind down in the Sierra Nevada today. Winter Storm Warnings are still posted this morning, but they are currently scheduled to end at 9am Pacific time. The forecast is still calling for up to a foot of new snow in the Southern Sierra today.

Checking out the snow reports from the Sierra ski areas, the mountains picked up from 5-7 feet of snow since Monday. Mammoth Mtn had the most at 7 1/2 feet. With the snow forecast to fall today, it’s possible Mammoth could end up with 8 feet.

There’s a nice break in the weather for this weekend. That should give folks a chance to dig out and get things cleaned up a bit before the next storm comes in. As of now it looks like snow will return to the Sierra on Monday and Tuesday next week.

The storm that moved through the west yesterday is forecast to bring us rain here in South-east Wisconsin. Rain will begin tomorrow afternoon and I guess it’s supposed to come down pretty good Saturday night and Sunday morning. One of the Milwaukee weather men said that if it were cold enough, we’d end up with a foot of snow. But the temps are forecast to be around 40 on Saturday and Sunday so that’s not going to happen.

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Checking the ski areas around the Sierra it looks like the storm totals are ranging from 3 – 4 1/2 feet. Another 2-3 feet is expected on Wednesday.

The wildest weather so far is in Southern California as severe thunderstorms rolled through yesterday.  Tornado Warnings were issued for many areas and there are reports of tornado damage in Orange County.

Today should be another wild one for California as the strongest storm of the series moves in today. Any reports you So-Cal folks can give would be great.

Beginning today we have the possibility of freezing rain here in Wisconsin as the first western storm moves into the Midwest. I don’t think the forecasters know how these storms are going to affect us. The forecast is changing daily right now. Guess we’ll have to wait and see. One thing’s for certain, I know we won’t see 5 feet of snow in two days.

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