Bay Area cold spell greeted with mix of delight, dismay
Some have fun in snow — others face blackouts, icy roads
Ruthless back-to-back storms brought snow flurries, fierce winds and withering cold to the Bay Area on Thursday, creating treacherous conditions on highways and luring teenagers up the slopes of Mount Diablo.
“This just never happens around here,” San Ramon Valley High School senior Rowan Jacobs said, scaling the frosted Contra Costa County peak in thin sneakers, alongside a friend who wore sandals and socks.
The latest jolt of wild winter weather crept in Wednesday, as thunderheads and snow squalls formed along the coastal horizon and overnight temperatures dropped to the mid-30s. By Thursday morning, the National Weather Service had issued an array of advisories, urging motorists to drive slowly on icy roads and warning swimmers and beachgoers of high surf and rip currents.
Residents in the Santa Cruz Mountains town of Felton woke to a light dusting of snow, which later piled up along the terrain, promising up to 12 inches on the summits. Slippery pavement on Highway 17 prompted California Highway Patrol to close the Empire Grade between Pine Flat Road and Rustic Lane just after 10 a.m., with no projected reopening time as of Thursday afternoon. Rain drizzled on San Jose early Thursday morning, while snowy clouds loomed over San Francisco, pouring ice pellets on the highest peaks.
“To have the snow line make it all the way down to Highway 17 is rare,” Chronicle meteorologist Gerry Díaz said, noting the extraordinary impacts of this week’s two converging storms, each dealing a blast of arctic air. While stretches of the Santa Cruz Mountains and Mount Hamilton in Santa Clara County saw the heaviest
“To have the snow line make it all the way down to Highway 17 is rare.”
Chronicle meteorologist Gerry Díaz
snow, bursts of powder accumulated on other peaks in the Marin Headlands and Sonoma County highlands. Snowflakes even showered on pockets of the Oakland hills.
By midmorning, the winter blast was just getting started, and people throughout the region greeted it with a mix of awe, curiosity, delight and consternation.
In the East Bay, adventurers like Jacobs began scrabbling up to the summit of Mount Diablo around 10 a.m., tantalized by the whitened glaze on tree branches that looked like snow, but in reality was mostly frost.
“Want to make a snowman?” Terry Greenaway asked his 2-year-old grandson, Julian, holding the small child beneath a frost-heavy tree while other visitors dug icy rime from the ground and packed it into snowballs.
For all the novelty, the storms also triggered infrastructure problems. Twenty-thousand residents on the Peninsula lost power as heavy winds felled trees and swept debris over lines.
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. reported additional blackouts throughout the South Bay, including thousands of customers in East Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Redwood City.
The protracted cold snap caused persistent delays on BART, with operators running trains slower during rush hour Thursday morning and into the afternoon. Gale winds made waves choppy along the bay’s southern coastline, threatening to capsize small boats.
And several roads became impassable, with the Highway Patrol blocking off parts of Highway 17 and later shutting down Interstate 80 from Colfax to the Nevada state lane after slick roads caused cars to spin out.
Díaz anticipated a “rinse and repeat” cycle Friday, with temperatures dipping below 40 degrees in San Francisco and a possibility of ice pellets scattering on the coastline or ice patches forming on the roads, which would force closures.
As clouds pressed in Thursday afternoon and the air grew bone-cold, Díaz braced for another round: “We’re really just getting started.”