Weather
Snow Blankets North Bay In Rare Weather Occurrence
"The big weather story of the day is the cold air and low elevation snow," said National Weather Service SF Bay Area officials.
NORTH BAY, CA — The weather forecast was for real. Sonoma Mountain Road was closed Tuesday morning in Petaluma because of snow, the Petaluma Police Department reported. It was a similar situation in towns around the Bay Area.
Looking east from Rohnert Park, the hills are dusted with snow. California Highway Patrol's Napa Area posted photos of the rare weather occurrence in the Sonoma Valley hills.
"The big weather story of the day is the cold air and low elevation snow," National Weather Service San Francisco Bay Area officials said in their morning area forecast discussion. "We have received several reports and pictures of snow across many of the peaks around the Bay Area."
Find out what's happening in Petalumafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The last time snow dropped to 1,000 feet was 2011, the Weather Service reported.
Monday afternoon, the NWS office put out a winter weather advisory for the North Bay, East Bay and South Bay areas, stating snow was possible as snow levels dropped below 1,000 feet.
Find out what's happening in Petalumafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The forecast rang true as overnight, the area's mountains — and hills and even some foothills— became white-capped. Mt. Diablo at 3,806 feet in Contra Costa County and Mt. Tamalpais at 2,572 feet in Marin County all received a few inches of snow. The same goes for Cobb Mountain at 4,483 feet nestled between Sonoma and Lake counties, in addition to Mount St. Helena at 4,341 feet in Napa County, the National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Mahle told Patch.
As of 1:15 p.m. Tuesday, Sonoma Mountain Road remained closed at Old Adobe Road in Petaluma due to the snow. Heavy traffic has been reported on the road, with at least one vehicle — a Cadillac Escalade — getting stuck in snow on the roadway, according to California Highway Patrol dispatchers.
Enjoying the sight of snow in the North Bay? Share your local weather photos with us by sending to maggie.avants@patch.com.
There’s Snow in the Hills!#Sonoma Valley hills are dusted with #Snow this morning. If you are driving in the area, #SlowDown !@CHP_GoldenGate @sonomasheriff @CaltransD4 @CHPSantaRosa #Winterwatch pic.twitter.com/aZ0lwz8jr4
— CHP Napa Area (@CHP_Napa) February 5, 2019
In Santa Cruz we get the snow and ice off our cars with flip flops pic.twitter.com/uXQyzFqLpr
— Mike Lee (@AstrobioMike) February 5, 2019
Patch editor Sue Wood contributed to this report.
Main photo via Petaluma Police Department Facebook page; Second and third photos by Al Francis/Napasonomaphotos.com
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