Beyond Snowplows

Written By Tim McCaffrey

What Real Winter Readiness Could Look Like in Tuolumne County

It doesn’t feel like it right now, but winter in District Three is not an idea. It is a fact. It can be chain controls in October. It is black ice in May. It is trees on power lines and the sound of plow trucks at 3 in the morning IF you’re lucky enough to live on a plow route.

For most of us living above 4000 feet, winter is more than a season. It is serious business. And we deserve a county plan that treats it that way.

What We Are Still Getting Wrong

We all have stories. The storm that knocked out power for 8 days with no reliable update. The road that never got plowed, OR, In my case, it got plowed after an ambulance got stuck. The school bus route that no one told the drivers was closed. The power company truck that showed up at the wrong address

Yes some of these are extreme, but can be manageable. But we ned our systems to catch up.

Snowplows Are Not a Winter Plan

We need snowplows. Of course we do. But real winter preparedness means more than a blade and a truck. Right?

Ask yourself:

  • Do residents get timely updates when things change?

  • Can people without cell service receive alerts?

  • Do we prioritize roads based on school access, emergency routes, and terrain?

  • Can neighbors reach one another when the roads are closed and the power is out?

  • Do we have warming centers that have been announced in advance in case of long term outages or, god forbid, a tree crashed through aa home?

Being ready for winter means building systems that expect winter to come, not scrambling when it arrives.

What Other Counties Are Doing (That We Can Too)

Some rural counties are already doing this well. We do not need to guess. We just need to look around.

None of this is crazy expensive. It is just the result of choosing coordination over confusion.

What Tuolumne County Can Do Next

Here are a few low cost, high impact ways we could improve our winter readiness today:

  • Build a simple online dashboard with weather, plow progress, road closures, and power updates

  • Use shared tools for road crews to communicate in real time across departments

  • Work with PG&E to ensure timely, localized updates for residents

  • Train neighborhood teams through our CERT program to support their communities in storms

Winter Preparedness requires attention and leadership.

Fire Preparedness in Winter

I said this last week. Winter is mild right now. That means it is the perfect time to reduce fuel loads on your property while the weather is still manageable. In the winter, if done safely, every day is a burn day in Tuolumne County.

Sarah and I cleaned up all the debris last Saturday. This was everything that piled up since our last clean up just a couple months prior.

Check the Tuolumne Air Pollution Control District website to get current burn rules and permit info.

Let’s Not Forget

When Station 56 was defunded by the Board of Supervisors, we did not just lose a fire crew. We raised our county’s overall fire risk. If we want to even begin to try and lower insurance costs, improve safety, and prepare for summer, this is the time to act.

Clearing defensible space, maintaining road access, and staying informed are all part of protecting our homes and sending the right signal to insurers and emergency partners.

Let’s not waste a quiet winter. Let’s use it.

Next week we’re talking about the Transient Occupancy Tax, how it effects our budget, how fees at Pinecrest is a bad idea and how we can increase revenue by being a year round destination.

Tim McCaffrey https://timmccaffrey.com
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Winter Without Snow