Bay Area Residents Delight in Rare Snowfall

Winter storms blanketed mountain peaks across the Bay Area with a rare dusting of snow this week.

Residents hiked within the Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve on Mount Umunhum in the Santa Cruz Mountains on Wednesday to enjoy the chilly conditions. The 3,486-foot-tall mountain top was among the locations where snowfall was the heaviest.

“We don’t get a lot of snow in San José,” said Susannah Goldberg, who came up from where she lives in that city to enjoy the snow with her two daughters and neighbor. “I was a little worried it might melt before we got up here, so when we were coming up the pass, and we were like: ‘Look, we can see the snow.’ It was very exciting.”

Goldberg said the hike was especially meaningful for her daughters, who grew up in Provo, Utah, and had been missing the snow. “When we heard that there was a weather forecast that it might snow up here, we were like ‘OK, well this is our chance to go get some snow and make some memories.’”

Snow fell on peaks around the bay, including nearby Mount Hamilton, Mount Diablo in the East Bay and Mount Tamalpais in Marin County.

Workers at Lick Observatory, which sits at the top of Mount Hamilton, said California Highway Patrol closed the roads up the mountain intermittently due to dangerous conditions.

While the Bay Area’s highest peaks see snow on a near annual basis, snowfall below 2,500 feet is more rare.

Officials closed the road up to the summit of Mount Umunhum, too, shutting traffic down at the Sierra Azul parking lot.

For Stuart Williams, who also came up to see the snow, getting most of the way was enough. “I was gonna drive to the very top, but I’m pretty good with seeing the little bit of snow that’s here. I got to make a little snowball and throw it, that was fun.”

Looking ahead, Bay Area residents can expect cold, with near record-breaking lows on Thursday night into Friday morning, according to the latest forecast from the National Weather Service.

Developing storms will also bring gusty winds and rain, with additional snow accumulation expected at higher elevations.