Hungry Hut owner Linda Sinks has never seen her favorite mountain town so dry. "Right now I wouldn't care if it snowed 3 or 4 feet," Sinks said. "I'd get out and shovel it, doesn't make a difference as long as we get something."
And she's never quite seen business this slow. Her restaurant is down about 30% for the Christmas season, all because there's no snow.
But, Thursday the skies finally opened up. Well, opened up a little. "We had what I call popcorn snow," Sinks said. "It was really exciting to actually see it coming down. We had enough that I could take a picture of it."
In a town so desperately dry any little bit, any trace, is something to celebrate. "At least for January it's something, that's all we've had since December," Sinks said.
While this small weather system created a big stir in town, several community leaders are working to create an even bigger event with a Snow Dance planned for this weekend.
"We just threw it together thinking let's make lemonade out of lemons," Cressman's owner Keith Davis said. "The snows not here but we can have a dance and everybody can get together and have a good time."
Davis' business is also down significantly because of drought, so he and some friends thought what could a Snow Dance hurt.
"Who knows, maybe it'll snow and you'll need chains to go down the hill," Davis joked.
In the meantime, Sinks says she will just keep her fingers crossed for a Miracle March to save this winter's profits.
Business owners in Shaver Lake are certainly hoping to turn the Snow Dance even Saturday into a day of big sales. There will be two locations in Shaver Lake and one in Huntington Lake. The events will run from Noon until 6.
