High Desert cleans up from wild weekend weather

Strong winds ripped through the High Desert on Saturday, and on Sunday the mountains got a healthy dose of early snow. But where the wild weather left damage, the cleanup revved up on Monday.

“We had debris everywhere,” said Gordon Knight of Tumalo Lavender.

He came home Saturday night to his greenhouse completely stripped.

“Our headlights picked up this mass amount of poly plastic hanging up over the trees,” Knight said.

When you are protecting precious material like lavender, the housing is trusted to survive the elements.

“They are designed and constructed to withstand 80 mph winds,” Knight said.

People were left wondering how strong the winds really got.

“I don’t think of Bend, Oregon being a windy place, but those were definitely the strongest winds I’ve experienced since I lived here,” said Nicole Hunzicker, owner of Nicole Michelle interior decorating.

The Westside shop experienced the wind damage in a big way.

“My co-worker noticed some branches scraping on the glass inside the shop, and a man came inside and said, ‘Did you know your tree is on your roof?'” Hunzicker said.

One local tree removal company reported getting 40 calls similar to Hunzicker’s on Saturday alone.

“As sad as I was to lose our tree, I immediately began thinking of what I could do with the branches,” Hunzicker said.

Seeing the silver lining in a tough situation. Another plus? The clouds cleared Monday to unveil snow.

From afar, the mountains blanketed in snow. And up close, Mt. Bachelor received over half a foot of snow.

And the talk of snow always gets Central Oregonians excited.

“Bring on winter!” one snow enthusiast said.