WALNUT CREEK, CALIFORNIA – We’ve had some weird weather in the 925 lately! Earlier this week, many residents woke up to thunderstorms and hail–a rarity here in the Bay Area.
And later in the week, we were treated to another rare sight: snow atop our iconic Mount Diablo.
The National Weather Services says a cold storm pushed snow levels down to around 2,500 feet and brought some of the chilliest mornings of the season.
Mount Diablo, for those keeping score, is over 3,800 feet tall. That means the precipitation falling on the mountain came down as snow, not rain. And thus, Mount Diablo once again did its Swiss Alps impression!
I drove by and got this video of the snowcap, as well as some dramatic, Mount Fuji style clouds over the mountain:
If you were thinking of driving up for a quick snow day, there’s an important catch: California State Parks says Summit Road is currently closed to vehicles above Juniper Campground due to unsafe road conditions, and it will reopen when conditions improve.
So you can’t go up there and cavort around building snowmen and making snow angels.
And the cold leads to some concrete, less whimsical threats down here at surface level. Forecasters have been highlighting two big risks with this pattern: (1) more cold, convective showers that can mix in graupel or wet snow at the highest peaks, and (2) black ice after sunset and into the early morning hours when skies partially clear.
In the interior East Bay, the cold is also showing up in official alerts. The latest forecast for Walnut Creek calls for lingering showers with temperatures dropping to around freezing overnight, and an Extreme Cold Warning is in effect for the East Bay interior valleys during the early Friday morning hours.
So keep your eyes on the road, not the mountain, and be safe driving with icy and cold conditions. But if you get a chance to stop somewhere with a view, enjoy this rare little bit of Bay Area snow.
