So, even though it is Mid April he still cannot see out his windows on the first floor. it has been like this since around Christmas 2022 or at least since the end of January. So, if he wants to see out he has to put on snow shoes to walk around his 2 1/2 acres of land so he doesn't fall through and die. However, he has hired people to plow his road out from his house to the nearest street which is plowed likely by the county.
He also said that the 10 feet of snow has collapsed his greenhouse where he normally grows up to 70% of his diet. So, all the roof glass pieces of his large greenhouse have collapsed and he is presently 80 years old and lives alone with his dog and his cat with solar power and a gas generator like many people out where he lives. So, multiply this by thousands of mountain dwellers from the Cascades down through the Sierras and this is still what mountain dwellers are living with or surviving still in April.
And when all this melts it will flood likely (depending upon how fast it melts) the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys and over flow dams and lakes and rivers along the way.
However, it is possible that mountains could get even more snow because temperatures have been 10 to 20 degrees below normal for the last 4 or 5 months.
For example, even here on the coast near San Francisco it will ONLY be around 55 or 56 degrees today even though the sun is out.
So, flooding is a distinct possibility throughout the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys in Central California where the most food is grown.
So, the last years we didn't grow as much food here in California because there was no water to do this.
This year the farmlands will be flooded a lot so we likely won't be able to grow as much because the flooding could last 6 months to 2 years many places as the water slowly seeps back into the depleted aquifers.
And the snow is 25 to 30 feet deep presently at Bunny Flat at 6900 feet on Mt. Shasta that you can drive to on Everitt Memorial Highway if you want to drive there and take pictures or ski or run your snowmobile or snow board. Also, there is MT. Shasta Ski park off of Snowman Summit on Highway 89 too.
So, the snow could even be deeper than this at 8000 feet or more. The most snow I have ever seen at Bunny Flat at 6900 feet is 40 feet and I skied this likely in the 1990s.
I have been cross country skiing on Mt. Shasta since 1976 when I bought Fisher skis in Ashland Oregon for my wife and I. Eventually, I got metal edged mountaineering skis so ice wouldn't kill me when I slid off icy snow sideways. The metal edges can save your life if you hit a patch or ice. IF you still slide off and go down grab your ski pole and grab the spike end and jam the spike into the ground to stop your sliding to your death. I did this once on the Coyote route at Mt. Shasta ski park so I didn't die by sliding into a tree at over 30 miles per hour. Coyote is a Black Diamond route for expert skiers so it is very steep.
But after almost dying that day I never skied coyote again but I skied Douglas route instead which is a slightly safer Black Diamond advanced ski route at Mt. Shasta Ski Park.
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