California winter storm: Second day of rare Bay Area blizzard left residents of all ages in awe

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — In the snowy Oakland Hills dominating the San Francisco Bay Area, a sight so rare that Michael Sullivan had to see it for himself.

“Real snow is not a joke. Not just some dust, but real snow here in the East Bay hills, snow on invasive eucalyptus trees,” said Michael Sullivan, a resident of Oakland Hills. “It’s amazing! And like I said, I wasn’t going to miss it.”

And he was not alone.

“That’s wild, I’ve never seen snow in Oakland, have you?” said Aarti Gurusami, an Auckland resident. “It’s amazing!”

Thicker, fluffier flakes fell here in the hills around midnight, just above Berkeley and Orinda, on the Contra Costa side.

Tilden Park, as well as Grizzly Peak Boulevard, also had quite a lot of snow, and the road was almost impassable for people with regular tires.

In daylight, Skyline Boulevard was no exception on Friday morning.

“We didn’t have snow, but I dreamed of seeing it everywhere, you never expect it to snow here,” said Jackie Pierce of the Oakland Hills.

Ten-year-old Pierce took full advantage of her quick stop at the Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve with her father to build a snowman in front of school.

“I’m building a snowman for the first time in Oakland, California!” She said. “This is crazy, I didn’t expect this.”

“It just adds a truly magical component to what is already a great place to start,” said Jim Rutledge, park ranger at Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve.

But Routledge says if you’re heading out to see the snow, be prepared before you go hiking.

RELATED: Winter Storm Turns Northern California Bay Area to Snowy Landscape

“People are not used to being in the snow, so they come to this place and go back to the park, and then they get very cold or something, and then sometimes we have to go in and go back to their cars.” He said.

And while this may not sound like much to our friends from the East Coast or the Midwest, it was a rarity in the Bay Area, which some say happens only once every few years.

“Thanks to the weather, for the snow!” Pierce said.

Bay Area snow ‘looks like Tahoe’ as occasional squalls hit lower elevations

Light snow fell in parts of the Bay Area on Thursday morning, and the Santa Cruz Mountains were no exception.

The pleasure is so rare that ABC7 found that many families make a special trip down Highway 17 just to see the snow in the mountains for themselves.

“It’s gorgeous and beautiful and everyone should come see it, it’s like the Tahoe in Santa Cruz,” said Capitol resident Marilyn L’Hero.

VIDEO: SKY7 flies over the snow-capped peaks of San Francisco Bay

The species is so rare, with thick, fluffy flakes, some say they’ve never seen it here before.

“Here in the Bay Area, never, the first time, we’ve been living here for eight years, so the first time in eight years,” said Diego Mor, a San Jose resident.

And if there were, others say, then for many years!

TIME: Here’s where and when snow is possible as the Bay Area sees some of the coldest temperatures of the season this week.

“It’s just incredible, we saw snow here a few years ago, but we haven’t seen it for a long time, it’s amazing that it snowed so close to the beach,” said Capitol resident Stephanie L’Hero.

But not everyone was ready. While snowplows had been working all night to help clear the roads, while driving on Highway 9 in Saratoga, ABC7 crews saw a pickup truck turn around. The truck crashed into a guardrail and was unable to climb the hill, temporarily blocking traffic.

However, that didn’t stop the Mor family from making a special trip to the Santa Cruz Mountains from San Jose.

“That’s something you don’t see often, right?” Said more. “So we saw it on the news this morning and then we just decided to go fast and have breakfast and see the snow.”

Other families also took full advantage of the rare snow with an impromptu snowball fight on Thursday morning.

“It feels like it’s something straight out of one of those Christmas movies, well maybe not straight out of one, we have some palm trees here, but yes, it does feel like a winter wonderland,” Stephanie L’Hero said. .

Thick snow fell over the North Bay

Several inches of snow fell on the East Bay hills on Thursday night

A cold front hitting the Bay Area will bring hail, thunder, lightning and wind. Snow had already fallen in parts of the East Bay early Thursday morning.

“My husband hasn’t woken up yet and I’m like, ‘It’s snowing! says Patty Staggs, describing the start of her morning.

Many in Oakland woke up to the wild weather watching the snow fall on the Auckland Hills.

“They say that in California there is no season, but there is! Eat!” Staggs says with a laugh. “It doesn’t look like the Midwest. But hey, it’s fun and different here.”

The snowfall on Thursday morning was light compared to what could have happened on Thursday evening, according to the National Weather Service. The East Bay hills above 2,000 feet can have up to several inches of snow.

David Bishop of the Oakland Department of Transportation was part of many crews surveying the area and preparing the hills for the approaching cold front. It’s not just the snow that worries them.

“We’re up here mechanically cleaning the hills and Skyline Boulevard before it rains,” Bishop says.

Joshua Davis goes for a run in Redwood Regional Park even in the rain. But in the morning it was not rain that affected the roads, but a light snowfall.

“I was driving on the Skyline, the snow really started to fall. I was surprised that it really started sticking to the ground,” says Davis. “I have seen people stop actually trying to collect little snowballs. There wasn’t much snow for that, but it was fun.”

This storm is likely to bring wintry conditions with it, which could mean limited visibility and downed power lines and trees. PG&E warns customers to be prepared for possible power outages.

Snowy day in the Santa Cruz mountains

Some residents of the Santa Cruz Mountains spoke on Thursday about how rarely it snows.

“For the first time in a long time, I’ve seen snow in this area of ​​California,” Boulder Creek resident Jordan Rowe said.

The news that snow had fallen so close to home inspired several people to travel outside their communities and see it for themselves.

“We drove through the mountains on Highway 9. We were surprised to see the snow there, it’s just great,” said Sue Bowman. it’s snowing there.”

STORM UPDATES: Snow visible on hills in Bay Area, more on the way as frost warning extended

Snow continued to pile up on higher ground in the Santa Cruz Mountains throughout the day Thursday.

Although there was almost no fuel left in the low-lying areas by noon, and more snow lay ahead, the locals wasted no time in preparing for the blackout, filling dozens of tanks with fuel at a gas station in Boulder Creek.

Power outages, which they had already experienced for a short time when they woke up in the morning.

The National Weather Service says a winter storm warning remains in effect for parts of the Santa Cruz Mountains from Thursday 7:00 pm to Friday 11:00 am.

Residents react to hail and snow on Wednesday

On Wednesday, loud hail was heard pounding on Rochelle Maselli’s car after her trip to the food market in Hayward on Wednesday.

“We all looked outside because there was so much noise that you could hear hail,” Maselli said.

She said it was so loud and people were running around the store’s parking lot.

VIDEO: Up to 33 inches of snow can be seen on Mount Hamilton: here’s why scientists say stay clear for now

On Wednesday, parts of the bay were hit hard by hail. An additional hail video filmed by a viewer in Santa Rosa showed what appeared to be snow along the landscape.

“But it was very unexpected, just like woosh, just like it happened, but that’s why I love the Bay Area,” Maselli said.

In and out of the Bay Area, snow also fell on Highway 17 in the Santa Cruz Mountains on Wednesday.

“We just had crazy weather. I’ve really never seen anything like it,” said Kenzie Stanley of Boulder Creek. Stanley’s husband witnessed snowfall on Bear Creek Road, also in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Extreme weather is becoming more frequent, expert says

“Maybe every five years we will see snow in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and then it melts pretty quickly,” said Professor Alison Bridger, chair of the Department of Meteorology and Climatology at San Jose State University.

According to Professor Bridger, extremes are unusual in this weather.

“The patterns are unequivocal in that unusual weather is becoming more familiar, more familiar, and we should not be surprised by anything,” Bridger said.

Bridger explained the best time to see snow on a hillside or in the mountains.

“I think it would probably be a good idea to run outside in your pajamas on Friday morning and see what the hillsides look like,” she said.

ABC7 News reporters J.R. Stone, Zach Fuentes, Anser Hassan, Lena Howland and Amanda del Castillo contributed to this report.

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