It's that time of year again . . . winter is on its way! We got .7" of rain in our back yard and the local mountains got lots of snow. I love more than anything to see snow on topa Topa, with Ventura's Two Trees surrounded by snow-covered mountains!
The calendar tells us that Winter begins around December 21 but most years it is not until February that Ventura gets its coldest and wettest weather. (This year, we seem to be bouncing back and forth between rain and snow and periods of mild and really hot weather.)
We got nearly 3 inches of rain in the past five days and more is predicted for this weekend. Coming out of the Angeles Crest Forest late Friday night, I encountered rain, lightening, and snow (I was the only one on the road at the time so it was too dark to get any good photos - besides, it was cold and wet!) Yesterday the snow that had fallen at 4,000 feet elevations and higher was clearly visible from our house - yay! I've taken so many pictures of our local snow that I thought I'd add this mirror view from the side of the road on Victoria Avenue. That view is one of my favorites!
The Winter Solstice arrived well before sunrise yesterday morning but "winter weather" actually arrived last week when a cold storm blew snow onto lower elevations in the Southwest that had not seen that much in nearly thirty years. On December 18th, Las Vegas got 3.8 inches of snow and the I-5, I-15, and CA Highways 14 and 38 were closed when the Cajon and Tejon Passes were covered in snow. Even the Santa Monica Mountains in Malibu got a little bit of the white stuff. It was amazingly spectacular but according to the record keepers (of whom I am one) almost twice as much fell in December of 1979. I woke up to a soft rain this morning and am thankful it was clear and dry over the weekend. I got about a third of my spring bulbs planted between recovering from my cold and preparing for our Choir Christmas Concert. These are a few shots of our local mountains after last week's storm cleared.
Click on this photo and look closely; you'll see some of the strawberries that survived the rain and cold and are ready to be harvested.
Okay, I'm sure most people are no longer interested, but I'm still amazed by all the snow - new snow - that appeared after this latest storm blew through!
I went to the Channel Islands Harbor to take some pictures at lunch and was pleasantly surprised to see this Great Blue heron along with the beautiful snow panoramas! I uploaded them into a small format, but click on each photo to get a better look.
The other involved a groundhog.
The last of the big rain left Monday morning and we've had sunny skies ever since. We always have narcissus (the smaller, paperwhite-type daffodils) blooming since November, but now the real bulbs are starting to poke their leaves out of the ground and just a few are beginning to bloom! (Click on this posting's title to see a few more new flowers.)
Although it has been sunny, it has continued to be cool and I've been taking pictures of the snow every day - it is so awesome to see it not disappearing like usual! (It's not unusual to see snow on Topa Topa - just look at last January's postings or even April 2006. What is unusual is that it hasn't melted away yet.) I took this shot as the clouds were beginning to return today. Highway 33 is still closed at Wheeler Campground, so there still must be tons of snow up in Rose Valley and on Mt. Pinos.
Click here for more snow views.
but Alan and Tom drove to the Harbor and climbed the tower at the Channel Islands National Park HQ and got some great shots.(Here are some of Tom's) -
They met me for lunch and we got a brief walk on Ormond wetlands - with another view of the mountains. (Click on the posting title to see more views.)
While Tahoe woke to bluebird sky and loads of powder on the ground, we woke to spectacular sunrise colors and SNOW on the distant mountains! (I get a kick out this telephoto shot from our upstairs window - snow, palms, and banana trees!)
Although we seem to get snow in the lower elevations at least once a year, I still get all excited about seeing that beautiful white coating on our local mountains!
(Don't forget you can see the larger versions by clicking on each picture.)
The storm continues to hang around and dropped even more snow on our local mountains. I couldn't resist stopping to take pictures on the way to work again this morning. This first shot is of my favorite Ventura landmark, Two Trees, with the snow-covered mountains in the background. The photo below is a panoramic combination of five shots I took from Olivas Park Road, panning from Two Trees on the north to Santa Paula on the south. Remember to click on the photos in order to see the full size; I made the panorama as small as possible in order to make it load faster.
