Truckee has been getting steady rain on top of heavy snow, and they’re in store for more.
They tell us that there is no available snow storage, they've literally run out of places to put it.
The rain on top of the snow is causing a dense compacted snow. The snow is actually picking up the water content, and it's causing a whole host of issues.
We caught up with Tahoe Truckee Unified School District who has had to delay and cancel schools.
"We've definitely been feeling the effects of all these snowstorms followed by the high precipitation storms afterwards. We have had some concerns with some our storm loads on a few of our buildings, so we have had to cancel school a couple of times, a couple specific schools in order to give our staff more time up on the roof and trying to keep up with all of it,” said Tahoe Truckee Unified School District Coordinator of District Communications and Parent Engagement Amber Burke.
Truckee schools were delayed on Monday and the elementary school was cancelled.
Safety is of course at the front of all of the district decisions, and they are literally working around the clock to make the best decisions for students, teachers and staff.
“We have a great team, a lot of our local authorities. We work with the National Weather Service in both Reno and Sacramento, along with our county and town, and you know we check in with them on a constant basis to find out how they are anticipating the storm to come in, and then how our roads are going to look throughout the region,” explained Burke.
Burke and her team meet with the National Weather Service from both Reno and Sacramento in the mornings at 3:45 a.m. in order to determine the best decisions for students and inform parents early.
Truckee Emergency Operations Manager Robert Womack says the rain mixed with heavy snow has created a concoction of difficult and hazardous conditions.
"One of the things about snow is it's one of the greatest water dams there are. So, we've plowed all of these roads but there is no way for the water to go that falls on the roads. So, there are places around town on the interstate, where there is ponding, standing water. We try to punch holes, find the drainage culverts, and get those released,” said Town of Truckee Emergencies Operations Manager Robert Womack.
The compacted snow is blocking gutters putting even greater pressure on ice dams blocking moisture from running off of roofs.
It's causing concern for structures across town.
At least one major business shut down because of cracking in the ceiling.
"There is certainly a concern that the more moisture we put on roofs, it causes that much more weight. The water has nowhere to run. A lot of houses here have what is known as ice dams, and the water ends up ponding behind those, it has nowhere to go. It increases the weight on the roof, so there is just that much more stress,” explained Womack.
Womack told me that most structures in the Truckee area are engineered for these types of conditions - but it doesn't mean there is not localized issues with some buildings, and how conditions *actually are playing out.
