Fresno Co. officials urge preparedness ahead of blizzard warning for Sierra Nevada

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- It was the calm before the storm in Shaver Lake Wednesday with only patches of leftover snow on the ground from the last winter storm.

"We can probably expect about an inch of rain in the Fresno/Clovis area between Thursday and Saturday," said Terri Mejorado, Emergency Manager with the Fresno Co. Office of Emergency Services.

And in the mountains come Thursday night, the calmness is expected to change as a blizzard warning is in effect for parts of the Sierra Nevada from Yosemite national Park to Cedar Grove.

Erik and Karol Anderson own a cabin in Shaver Lake and already dealing with the effects of the upcoming storm.

"We just had a guest that wanted to cancel because of the blizzard coming in -- the weather coming in," said Erik Anderson.

With 36 to 48 inches of snow expected here in Shaver Lake - PG&E says access is going to be the main concern if there are any power outages in this area.

"Because of these access issues, customers can experience outages for 2, 3, and 4 days at a time," said Jeff Smith, PG&E Spokesperson. "But we are making sure that for some of these difficult to reach locations, we do have the necessary snow equipment in order to do whatever we can in these remote areas to get to them as safely and quickly as possible."

Fresno county Fire Chief Dustin Hail says the best thing you can do is prepare and be cautious as snow falls on your home.

"Try to pull a little bit of that snow off the roof, that added weight even though it doesn't seem like its very much -- but that adds a tremendous amount of weight to roof of any structure," said CAL FIRE / Fresno County Fire Chief Dustin Hail.

That preparedness while the sun is still shining is what the Anderson's were taking advantage of Wednesday.

"We're just making sure everyone's secure and we got our snow shovels out, anything we can do really to make sure that we're ready," said Erik Anderson.

Chief Hail says they are also working with other law enforcement agencies to have extra equipment over the weekend.

Nearly one year ago fresh powder covered the Sierra and Fresno County officials say they are using those experiences today.

"So that was one of the big lessons that we learned last year, is now on the 4 -ane going up to Shaver Lake, the water comes down the hill in different places where maybe it didn't come down there before," said Mejorado.

Mejorado says they are also working with neighboring counties to make sure the entire region is prepared.

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