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Warm rains killed Tahoe during holidays
Snpw level was at 8,500 feet during Pineapple Express
Congressman and California gubernatorial candidate Eric Swalwell continues to stake out extreme left positions.
When he was elected to Congress in 2012, he ran to the right of the ancient Pete Stark (a 20-term incumbent who had lost touch with his district for years). Swalwell, a Dublin councilman at the time, jumped ahead of state Sen. Ellen Corbett, in particular, by directly challenging Stark instead of waiting for him to retire. For many of us, it was an “anyone but Pete” vote.
Swalwell squeaked into the November runoff and then sent Stark into long overdue retirement. Upon arriving, he wasted little time embracing Speaker Nancy Pelosi and moved hard left where he’s remained. He’s a frequent guest with aggressive language on talk shows as well as holding a prominent role in the impeachment of President Donald Trump during his first term.
Swalwell has decided he has had enough of Congress and is surrendering his congressional seat to run for the open governor’s seat after Gov. Gavin Newsom is termed out. He has plenty of company in the campaign with 10 declared candidates. They range from former Congresswoman Katie Porter to former Congressman Xavier Becerra, former Assembly Speaker and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former state Controller Betty Yee and state schools chief Tony Thurmond. Two Republicans are in the race, former Trump advisor Steve Hilton and Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco as well as Democrat billionaire Tom Steyer who probably has gotten the poorest bang for his bucks of any of the super wealthy investing in politics for themselves or others.
Swalwell grabbed a headline when he declared that former Immigrations and Customs Enforcement employees would not be hired by his state government or receive driver’s licenses. How rich. The Democrats in this state issue driver’s licenses to illegal aliens, including to big rig drivers who cannot read English.
In the Legislature, Avila Farias, D-Martinez, introduced AB 1627 that would ban ICE employees during the Trump Administration from working as school teachers or law enforcement officers. It is specific to only second-term employees — a stunt that’s doubtful constitutionally.
Swalwell got unwelcome headlines when filmmaker Joel Gilbert filed a lawsuit claiming his legal residence was not in the state, instead it was in Washington D.C. Swalwell blew it off and invited Gilbert to see him in court. What he listed on loan documents as his primary residence will be telling. Stay tuned for more rhetoric from Swalwell and the others.
During my 20-plus years of avid skiing, I routinely paid close attention to weather conditions.
Lake level at Lake Tahoe is about 6,000 feet with most of the resorts based higher than that. The simple arithmetic is temperature drops 3 degrees every 1,000 feet of elevation so 50 degrees in Pleasanton means snow level at 6,000 feet. That’s OK, but it’s much better snow when it’s at 4,000 feet that requires chains at Kyburz on Highway 50 or Baxter on Highway 80.
We own a timeshare at South Lake Tahoe so that was a destination most of the time. These thoughts came to mind as I watched the tourism industry tank around Lake Tahoe and in the Rockies, judging by the lack I snow I spotted on the front range west of Denver during the NFC championship game last Sunday.
For Tahoe area resorts, it was the worst of all worlds. Some decent early snow followed by abnormally warm weather so the resorts could not make snow despite huge investments in the equipment. Then the Pineapple Expresses showed up with warm Pacific storms that sent the soar level way up the mountains. It was around 8,500 feet at one time during the holidays—just truly ugly and the lodging cancellations reflected it.
The irony was that early January brought ideal conditions with plenty of fresh snow and the blue skies that the Tahoe area (as well as the Rockies) are known for. Here’s hoping the pent-up demand flooded the area for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend and will do so again for Presidents’ Day. Resorts already lost their holiday cash cow.
Swalwel was a no show for 28 percent of the roll call votes in Congress, nearly one hundres roll calls.