Scenes from a local winter

Snow blows by the Nevada Club on Grass Valley's Main Street. Photograph by Scott Thomas Anderson

Eleven days after record-breaking storms buried the Sierra foothill communities that surround Sacramento under blankets of snow, thousands of people are still living without power in parts of Placer and Nevada counties. It’s projected to stay that way until Tuesday. SN&R was in those towns before, during, and after the incredible maelstroms, photographing scenes as locals balanced the weather hardships with yet another pandemic winter.

A clear, frigid night on Grass Valley’s historic Mill Street before the storms rolled in. Photograph by Scott Thomas Anderson
Grass Valley’s Mill Street on Dec. 30 at the height of the snowfall. Photograph by Scott Thomas Anderson
While northern Placer and Nevada counties were snowed-in, the hamlets between Auburn and Placerville dealt with numbingly cold mornings and ice-bound everything. Photograph by Scott Thomas Anderson
Grass Valley’s 170-year-old Holbrooke Hotel, which was standing a century before when a similar storm hit, saw most trees lining Main Street crack under the weight of the snow. Photograph by Scott Thomas Anderson
Several cafes and dining houses in Auburn’s historic district struggled to stay open since employees up the hill were trapped at home by hulking snow drifts. Photograph by Scott Thomas Anderson
On New Year’s Eve morning, business owners in Nevada City began to try to dig footpaths to their doors. Photograph by Scott Thomas Anderson
The oldest quarter of Auburn shrouded in fog this week as drinkers dwelled in timeworn watering holes. Photograph by Scott Thomas Anderson

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