I took a day off of work yesterday so a buddy and I could drive up to Tahoe to check on a cabin he has there. While in the area, we dropped down into Carson Valley for a little sightseeing. The storm that was causing snow in the Sierras seemed to dissipate on the peaks, leaving the Carson Valley in broken sunlight and relatively warm temperatures. I guess that was a clear illustration of the rain shadow effect.

The first picture below is a pasture with the eastern wall of the Sierras in the background. You can see the light dusting of snow on the ground while up in the mountains there is a storm raging. The distance of only a few miles makes a huge difference in the weather you would be experiencing.

Below is a view 180 degrees eastwards toward the Pine Nut Mountains, taken from the same spot as the above photo, displaying the really excellent sunny winter weather yesterday in the Carson Valley.

Up at Tahoe, only a few miles away, the story was a bit different. This is my friend's cabin, with about three feet of snow on the roof. Notice the hand hewn boards on the door.

This is the pack on the cabin from a bit further away. We didn't go inside because we would have had to shovel a lot of snow away from the door just to get it to open. This cabin was built in the early years of the last century by Swedish carpenters who hauled the logs to the site with horses. There isn't a single doorknob in the cabin, all the doors open by pulling on ropes that release a latch. Really old school, although there are the modern conveniences of running water, electricity and a flush toilet. It was a great way to spend a Wednesday.