Then and now: May brings mudslides, drought
Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval standing in what should be three feet of water, now dry Washoe Lake. Photo/Anne Knowles
May of 2015 and May of 1983 compare as total opposites.
In 2015, we’re experiencing a record drought, Washoe Lake has dried up, and thousands of wells in California have gone dry.
By contrast, in 1983 we had four rain-prompted slides including massive mud hitting Washoe Lake and Squaw Valley. There was much flooding in the Carson Valley, with closed roads and submerged houses. Highway 395 was closed by pavement being completely washed out along the Walker River, Highway 50 was closed near Glenbrook, and South Lake Tahoe was almost totally isolated.
I videotaped Tad Dunbar’s evening news then. KOLO-TV 8 has graciously posted my 1983 recording here.
— Bill Kingman
Bill, Another good one. The video is definetly worth watching so we can all remember what it was like in 1983 with slides and road closures. What a mess that was!
The weather sure can effect our lives. OLS
In 1983 during all this mess I was working at Carlos Murphy’s (now Chevy’s) with Paul Middlebrook and Kenny “Ski Bum” Curtzwiler. We had a stack of free tickets on the host desk to see James Brown at Caesar’s (Mt Bleu).
395 in the Walker Canyon didn’t wash out until the warm storm in the ninetys.
Thank you, Robert, for the correction. The Walker River did wash-out US 395 in the spring of 1997.