Weather history was top of mind for Riverside residents after 1949 snowstorm

Once the snow of January 1949 had come and decided to stay for a bit, Riversiders who were not used to such a display took to asking longtime residents if this was a regular occurrence.

It must be remembered that Riverside had been touted for years for its “tropical” climate and year-round growing weather, so the snow that lay on the streets, homes and orchards throughout Riverside was quite a strange phenomenon to many.

Longtime Press writer George Rix put it humorously when he stated that no matter what happened in Riverside, hot days, cold days, smoggy days, etc., there was always some old-timer who remembered something worse. Rix wrote, “This morning, [Jan. 10] confronted with the snow which covered roofs and trees, Riverside’s Old Timers admitted they were licked. ‘Never saw anything like this,’” Rix reported.

And yet, it was Rix and others who directed their pens and steno pads to those very same old-timers to get their opinions on the snow. One such person availed upon was Beulah Woods Roblee, the wife of Dr. William Roblee. Mrs. Roblee had

come to Riverside from Illinois in 1882 at age 6. In 1882, the first bout of snow to hit Riverside was recorded, just a few days after she arrived.

“It didn’t seem strange to me, coming from Illinois,” she told the Press. That snowstorm hit Jan. 19, 1882, and caused the water canals to break in several places due to snow piling in them. There was no mention of impacts to crops.

Mrs. Roblee also spoke about the snow of 1915, which resulted in a foot of snow falling in Perris and Colton, but apparently missing Riverside. She and her friends went up the Box Springs grade right before New Year’s Day and were able to spend much of the day admiring the snow that lay on the ground. This snow, though, was quite unwelcome, coming on the heels of the great freeze of 1913 that wiped out much of the citrus crop in Riverside and elsewhere.

The last time it snowed in Riverside before 1949 was in December 1932. However, this was quite light and was more a cold rainfall. Snow, though, did fall all around Riverside and resulted in some telephone lines snapping and road closures. The good news, though, was that this snow was neither heavy enough nor cold enough to do any sizable damage to citrus crops.

In all, the snow of 1949 was quite an upset for Riversiders. Anecdotally, I still remember a substitute teacher of mine in elementary school discussing how it snowed in 1949 — it must have been a rather cold day for her to bring it up.

COURTESY OF STEVE LECH Trucks stalled along a road near Riverside during the snow of 1932.