cheerful
Note that aside from a line along the peak and an area near the chimney, there are no bare patches (yet) on the roof, so to answer a question posted as a comment earlier this week, I think the roof is doing okay, but when the sun gets to working on the snow up there, particularly on the east-facing parts, parts of the roof snow just let loose and slide off.
The cornices along the garage eaves continued to grow, spreading tendrils across the brace that connects the RV shelter to the garage. (The braces significantly strengthen the shelter, transferring lateral forces from wind to the frame of the garage.)
I find it astonishing that these structures are able to form and stay there for extended periods of time.
As the sun crept higher in the sky, I reckon it would only be a matter of hours before the cornices let loose and collapsed to the gravel area below.
You may recall me mentioning odd patterns in the snow on the front porch a couple of days ago. Today I figured out what caused them, in a cold awakening.
I cleared the porch and walks again today in time to let the sun dry things out. Note the telephone and cable lines running from the pole at right to the house at left. While I was on the porch sweeping snow from the surface, a glob of snow that had accumulated on those lines fell off and landed between my hat and my coat, running down my neck. Brrr! But this is the source of the "worms" on the porch. Snow accumulates on those lines, and when enough accumulates, it falls onto the porch, leaving a trail to mystify.
There is potential snow coming sometime next week, but for now we have several clear days coming. That means the folks who have been battling the snow over Donner Summit and on what Union Pacific crews call "The Hill" we have a chance to catch up and maybe get some rest. This afternoon, closures and then chain controls lifted, allowing backed-up lines of big rigs and ordinary motorists to start making their way over the mountain. Fifty-mile chain controls (for smaller vehicles) and closures (for big rigs) are serious business.