The strong, cold storm that blasted damaging Santa Ana winds across the Southland on Thursday changed course overnight, dumping up to a foot of snow on San Bernardino County’s highest peaks and several inches throughout Southern California’s mountains.
By early Friday, Snow Valley and Bear Mountain resorts had already received 12 and 13 inches of snow, respectively, and forecasters expect several more inches to fall by the end of the day.
“They could end up with 15, 16 inches of snow in some of the 7,500-foot elevations,” said Alex Tardy, a National Weather Service meteorologist in San Diego. “It is significant, especially for March.”
Areas near Idyllwild got about 5 inches early Friday and even Mount Laguna in San Diego County recorded 3 inches, according to the latest counts. Elevations as low as 4,000 feet, including Garner Valley near Hemet and in Julian in San Diego County, saw about an inch of snow.
As snow continues to fall, Tardy said another 1 to 5 inches are likely, with higher amounts at higher elevations. Most of the snow is expected through Friday evening, but he said some snowfall could stick around Saturday.
“We’ve seen the coldest and worst part to the storm,” Tardy said Friday morning. He said the heaviest snowfall began about 9 p.m. Thursday through 4 a.m., when 1 to 2 inches fell per hour on Big Bear and other places.
“It was snowing hard,” he said.
A winter storm warning remains in effect for the San Bernardino and Riverside county mountains above 5,500 feet through 6 p.m., warning of heavy snow and winds gusting up to 45 mph.
The storm has also triggered school closures in some of the hardest-hit areas.
Rim of the World Unified School District canceled all classes Friday “due to high-elevation snow and hazardous road conditions,” according to the district’s website, and all but one school in Bear Valley Unified did the same.
“The storm that brought the wind yesterday moved right over Southern California,” Tardy said. Because it came in from the east — as opposed to off the Pacific, like many systems that hit the Southland — it was initially dry and cold — bringing strong winds without precipitation.
“Once the storm settled over the area, it wrapped up moisture from the south and brought it back into the area,” Tardy said, thus the snow.
The worst of the strong winds have subsided, but much of Los Angeles County remains under a wind advisory through 11 a.m. Friday with some lingering offshore flow, Tardy said. Gusts Friday could reach up to 45 or 50 mph in some of the region’s windiest corridors, including the Santa Monica Mountains, the San Gabriel Mountains and along the Grapevine — but that’s still much lower than Thursday’s highest gusts which repeatedly hit over 65 mph. The top speeds hit 86 mph at Magic Mountain Truck Trail east of Santa Clarita and 87 at Marshall Peak near Crestline, according to the National Weather Service.
While the Santa Anas have slowed in Southern California, damaging winds remain a concern across the southern Sierra, with a high wind warning in effect through 5 p.m. for Kings Canyon, Sequoia and Yosemite national parks, and along the upper San Joaquin River.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
