Finally Friday

This is the last Friday in January. Monday, the boys will be out reading meters. January has been a rough month fraught with leaks. Several customers had substantial leaks and many more had smaller leaks. Once the meters are read and the bills prepared, Becky will be able to tell if anyone else has a leak that has not yet been discovered. If she sees a substantial jump in water usage, she will notify the property owner. We try to be alert to leaks at all times, however, it is ultimately the property owner's responsibility to find and fix leaks that are on their side of the meter.

I know we sound like a broken record here, but we have to keep saying this over and over again because many homeowners do not heed this warning.

The single most important thing you can do when you leave your mountain home is turn the water off at your customer shut off valve.

If the water is shut off at the customer valve, then you will avoid frozen and broken pipes or leaks. If you develop a leak while you are away from your home, an awful lot of water can pass through your meter before you ever find out about it. This can cause a lot of damage if it is inside your house. Not all leaks are detectible either. If they are underground or inside your home, we cannot always spot them and have no way of knowing there is a leak until the meters are read.

If you do not know where your customer shut off valve is or how to shut off your water, please give us a call at 951-659-2675 and we would be happy to come out and help you. Just call during regular business hours of Monday thru Friday from 9 until 4 and we will send Jerry J. or Jeremy out as soon as possible.  We are here to help and we hope you will contact us if you are unsure of how or where to turn your water off.

If you are off the hill and would like us to go out and check your home, we can do so.  There is a $15 fee for this service, however, if you are unsure if you turned your water off and cannot get back up on the hill to check for yourself, having us do it for you is the safest way to go.  That way you will know your water is off and you wont' have to worry about leaks developing while you are away.  It is like the old adage, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 

It's Snowing!

Well just in case there is anyone out there who hasn't looked out their window yet, it is snowing.

I have read several weather reports and frankly, I think they are way off base. One said 1/2" accumulation possible. I am not believing that because between 7:30 am and 8:30 am, I had to shovel off my deck and side walk twice. I cleaned off my car around 8:30 to come to work and by 8:45, it was covered again. So it is safe to say that weather forecast is out the window.

The next one I read said 3 to 8 inches and called for snow levels to drop to 4,000 feet later today. There was already snow in Mountain Center by 8 am this morning, so I think that one is wrong as well.

As for the total amount of snow we are going to get, I don't know. It seems to be coming down pretty fast and steady, so I can see us getting the full 8 inches with no problem. My personal opinion is that we are going to get more snow than they are predicting and the snow levels will be lower much sooner than they predicted. But what do I know?

This is a good time to remind you to turn off your water at your customer valve if you are leaving your mountain home. Also make sure your outside hoses are disconnected. Once you turn off your water at your customer valve, it is a good idea to go back inside and turn your faucets on to remove any standing water in the pipes. Be sure to turn them off again once they have drained out. This prevents the water from flying out of the faucets when you turn the water back on. Turning off your water is the easiest way to prevent water loss from frozen or broken pipes.

While the snow is beautiful, please be mindful of any pets you have outside. Be sure to provide them with a warm, dry shelter so they can get out of the snow. Warm water is especially appreciated during these cold days.

If you have to go out on the roads, be extremely careful. When I came in at 9 am, the side roads had not been plowed and Highway 243 was getting covered over again. It is best to just stay put if possible. There are not many things worth risking your life for.

To all our customers, stay warm, stay safe and enjoy this beautiful snow!

Weather

Ok, where is the ark? This is the 6th straight day of rain. I don't know if this is a record breaker or not, but it sure feels like an unusual event to me. The weather station has registered 10.47 inches of rain for December. They are calling for some snow and if you haven't seen it yet, here is the messasge from the Nation Weather Service in San Diego.

Winter Storm Warning

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
556 PM PST TUE DEC 21 2010

...PERIODS OF HEAVY SNOWFALL POSSIBLE IN THE MOUNTAINS THROUGH
WEDNESDAY...

.A FLOW OF MOISTURE FROM THE SOUTHWEST WILL BRING PERIODS OF
LIGHT SNOWFALL TONIGHT. FOR LATE TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY...A
STRONGER...COLDER TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE FROM THE NORTHWEST WILL
BRING NUMEROUS SNOW SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY
SNOWFALL POSSIBLE ABOVE 6500 FEET.

CAZ055-056-221200-
/O.EXP.KSGX.WW.Y.0010.000000T0000Z-101222T0200Z/
/O.EXT.KSGX.WS.W.0010.101222T0800Z-101223T0200Z/
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS-RIVERSIDE COUNTY MOUNTAINS-
INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...BALDWIN LAKE...
BIG BEAR CITY...BIG BEAR LAKE...FAWNSKIN
556 PM PST TUE DEC 21 2010

...WINTER STORM WARNING NOW IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO
6 PM PST WEDNESDAY...
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY WILL EXPIRE AT 6 PM PST THIS EVENING...

THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY WILL EXPIRE AT 6 PM PST THIS EVENING.
THE WINTER STORM WARNING ABOVE 6500 FOR HEAVY SNOW IS IN EFFECT
FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 PM PST WEDNESDAY.

* ELEVATION: ABOVE 6500 FEET.

* SNOW LEVELS: 6500 FEET TODAY...MAY RISE BRIEFLY THIS
EVENING...BEFORE LOWERING TO 5000 FEET OR LOWER WEDNESDAY.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS: 2 TO 4 INCHES ABOVE 6500 FEET EARLY TONIGHT.
FOR LATE TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY...12 TO 24 INCHES ABOVE 7000
FEET WITH 4 TO 12 INCHES FROM 6000 TO 7000 FEET.

* TIMING: LIGHT SNOWFALL TONIGHT. NUMEROUS SNOW SHOWERS AND
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS LATE TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING
WITH HEAVY SNOWFALL POSSIBLE...DECREASING WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON
AND ENDING WEDNESDAY NIGHT.

* LOCATIONS INCLUDE: BALDWIN LAKE...BIG BEAR CITY...BIG BEAR
LAKE...FAWNSKIN

* WINDS: SOUTHWEST 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 35 MPH EARLY TONIGHT.
SOUTH WINDS 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 50 MPH LATE TONIGHT...
BECOMING SOUTHWEST ON WEDNESDAY.

* VISIBILITY: AREAS OF NEAR ZERO VISIBILITY AT TIMES IN BLOWING
SNOW AND AREAS OF FOG.

* IMPACTS: A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW MEANS SEVERE
WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT
AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE FORECAST THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS.
ONLY TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL...KEEP AN EXTRA
FLASHLIGHT...FOOD...AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN
EMERGENCY.


PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER
CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF
SNOW ARE FORECAST THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS. ONLY TRAVEL IN
AN EMERGENCY. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL...KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT...
FOOD...AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.

WHITLOW


We have sand and sandbags here at the water district office. If you need sandbags, please stop by the office during normal business hours and we will be happy to give you some. We have sand located behind the workshop.

If you are going to be out on the road, please take the appropriate precautions. It is better to arrive somewhere late, but safe and sound, than to not arrive at all. If you don't have to be out on the roads, then stay home. That is the best way to assure you will stay safe.

We hope everyone in the Pine Cove/Idyllwild area is staying warm, safe and dry. Don't forget to provide for your pets in this weather as well. They too appreciate a warm, dry place to hunker down while this storm plays out.

If we are all careful, we can make it through this.

Flooding

With all this rain, we thought now might be a good time to share some information on flooding with everyone.

Flooding at Home