Dusting of snow in the Angeles

The clouds raced across the sky all afternoon, dashes of blue sky and ominous grey mingling, swirling, and passing overhead without more than an occasional drizzle or flurry of hail.

In one of the regions hardest hit by the drought, Chilao, in the heart of the Angeles National Forest, is roughly one hundred inches below average precipitation since the onset of the current drought cycle in 2011. Streams have not run at their normal levels in years...most have not run at all for four consecutive winters. Trees collapse all around, victims of dry soil and insects, the bark beetles which thrive on stressed trees.

With the darkness of early morning, the wind subsided, the clouds settled, and Chilao received a dusting of snow, briefly resembling the forest as it used to be. But underneath the quickly fading veil of white, the ground is dry, the vegetation stressed, the flowers few and small.

Still, so rare has snowfall been this year that even the smallest amount seems reason to take notice, appreciate, be grateful for.