It's Wednesday. Readers share photos of their neighborhoods transformed by snow. Plus, Gov. Gavin Newsom won't deliver a State of the State address this year. |
| The Owens River Gorge in eastern California.Stephen Cunha |
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Winter weather in the Golden State, of all places, continues to draw national attention this year. |
First, atmospheric rivers flooded towns and swallowed cars. Then, snow fell in Silicon Valley, Santa Cruz, Oakland and a whole host of places unaccustomed to it. Graupel, an ice-snow combo, dusted the Hollywood sign. Yosemite National Park closed indefinitely after record snowfall buried cabins and blanketed roads. |
Late last month I was driving in Paso Robles, a city on the Central Coast known for its wineries and olive groves, when I noticed the tops of the gently sloping green hills sprinkled with snow. I'd never seen anything like it. |
| The small town of Shandon in San Luis Obispo County last month.Soumya Karlamangla/The New York Times |
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Twenty miles east in Shandon, a small community also in San Luis Obispo County, the skies were mostly blue — but the roofs of cars, small homes and wooden barns were all blanketed in snow. I watched as a father and daughter, bundled in scarves and jackets, assembled a wobbly snowman from what had fallen on a grassy field in the city's park. |
Today we're sharing photos you emailed us of what this winter has looked like in your neck of the woods. Leslie Bates, a reader who lives in Gualala on the Mendocino Coast, said that she had been sending snow pictures to her brother who lives in the Catskills in New York: "The world turned upside down!" |
| Craig Whichard's cabin in Arnold.Craig Whichard |
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Sandra Sincek, who lives in Julian, a small mountain town northeast of San Diego, described her child's first sled run of the year. |
"Occasionally we will get a few inches of snow, but this was a glorious winter event," she wrote. "When the clouds finally parted, our son carried his wooden snow sled to the top of the hill, carefully positioned it, climbed in, and let go." |
Craig Whichard wrote to us from his cabin in Arnold, on the western side of the Sierra Nevada and about 70 miles east of Stockton. He said that the five feet of snow that fell late last month was more than he'd seen in his 14 years there. |
"It is truly a winter wonderland," he wrote. |
| In Cloverdale in Sonoma County.Star Carpenter |
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| A geodesic dome in the Santa Cruz mountains.Karrie Gaylord |
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| The view from Hollister in San Benito County.Susan Heck |
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| Snow-capped San Gabriel Mountains, seen from Glassell Park in Los Angeles.Emily Zuzik Holmes |
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| Snow-covered mountains behind the Hollywood sign.Patrick T. Fallon/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
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- Bay Bridge lights: A light installation on the Bay Bridge installed in 2013 was turned off on Sunday after its creators said it could no longer endure the region's harsh conditions.
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- Synagogue shooting: Dmitri Mishin, 51, is accused of firing blanks inside a synagogue in San Francisco's Richmond District. On Tuesday a judge dropped hate crime enhancements against him, though Mishin still faces felony charges, The San Francisco Standard reports.
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| Kay Chun's butternut squash pasta with brown-butter bread crumbs.Christopher Testani for The New York Times. |
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| China Cove at California's Point Lobos State Reserve.Eros Hoagland for The New York Times |
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Today's tip comes from Sunday Stevens, who recommends Carmel-by-the-Sea: |
"I know so many people say this, but it is uniquely California. Recharge for a few days if you can. The charm is a salve to city life. Just taking a walk through the residential streets and looking at the beautiful houses is meditative. Or taking a walk down to the Carmel Beach and seeing the incredible sunset is an instant reboot on life. And the hikes along Point Lobos State Reserve are beyond compare. Every step you take is another glory of nature. It will recharge every molecule of joy within you." |
Tell us about your favorite places to visit in California. Email your suggestions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. We'll be sharing more in upcoming editions of the newsletter. |
| A North Pacific right whale in the North Pacific Ocean.Marine Mammal Commission/Handout via Reuters |
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And before you go, some good news |
On Sunday morning, Pualani Dalton was steering a whale-watching boat in Monterey Bay when she spotted a creature in the distance. She assumed it was a humpback whale, a common species along the California coast. |
But, upon closer inspection, the whale turned out to be a North Pacific right whale, one of only about 30 living along the U.S. and Canadian Pacific Coast, according to The San Francisco Chronicle. North Pacific right whales have been critically endangered since the 1970s, when they were almost hunted to extinction. |
"It was hard to believe," said Dane McDermott, a marine biologist who was on board during the sighting. "It's like you have found a zebra when you were looking for horses." |
Thanks for reading. I'll be back tomorrow. — Soumya |
Briana Scalia, Isabella Grullón Paz and Lyna Bentahar contributed to California Today. You can reach the team at CAtoday@nytimes.com. |
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