Karen Anderson got quite a scare Monday afternoon. The south Turlock resident was labeling cans in her kitchen when she heard a "swish, swish" sound and then "a big bang" before her whole house shook. She ran outside to find a giant tree had fallen into her yard, a foot away from hitting her house.

Anderson said her first thought was that her husband was outside and could have been hit by the tree. Thankfully, he was not in the vicinity when the 60 to 70 foot  tall sugar pine fell to the ground. The Andersons' daughter-in-law and grandsons, who arrived at the home shortly after the big fall, were also very thankful that no one was injured.

Karen Anderson said the tree, which sits just on the neighbor's side of the front drive of the two properties on Glenwood Avenue, was there when she and her husband moved into the house over 40 years ago. Sugar pines are the largest of the pine species and can grow up to 200 feet tall.

Karen and Loren Anderson theorized that the weight of recent rainfall is what brought the tree down, roots and all.  A quarter of an inch of rain was recorded by 3 p.m. Monday, according to the Earth Networks Weather Station at the Turlock Irrigation District Canal Drive site, and 3.89 inches for the month so far.