LAKE COUNTY — Lake County rang in the New Year under a blanket of snow. Snowflakes began falling around 10:30 p.m. New Year”s Eve and continued to fall throughout New Year”s Day.
Willie Sapeta, of Lake County Office of Emergency Systems said lower areas of the county received as much as three-and-a-half inches of snow while higher elevations, such as the Cobb Mountain/Loch Lomond area saw as much as eight to 10 inches.
Area officials, Sapeta and Road Supervisor Steve Stangland, of Lake County Public Works Road Division said that the county fared pretty well through the snow storm with no official road closures to report.
“It was pretty uneventful. I was surprised,” Sapeta said. “Everything was really quiet in the county. We just monitored the situation. There was a small power outage in the Cobb Mountain area but nothing major.”
Stangland said his crew worked through the holiday weekend to keep roads open. He said his staff was out laying sand and plowing for 24 hours during the storm. “We got to the roads and plowed the snow as quickly as we could,” he said. “I can”t thank those guys enough for giving up their holiday.”
Stangland said major focus was on the highest elevations of the county such as the Cobb Mountain, Riviera West and Clear Lake Riviera areas. He said major arteries were attended to first followed by secondary and then local roads.
“We came through it,” Stangland said. “There were a lot people with complaints but we did our best to keep the roads open. We provided assistance down in Clearlake and kept the road open to (St. Helena Hospital Clearlake). We assisted CalTrans, too.”
Sapeta said there were no major vehicle accidents during the storm.
Contact South County reporter Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call her directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
