Epic winter storm turns Southern California snow white; more rain and snow is on the way

Residents in parts of Southern California who have not seen snow in decades woke up to an icy wonderland Sunday morning following an epic winter storm that broke rainfall records and scattered fresh powder across the normally warm, sunny region.

The storm, which originated in the Gulf of Alaska, tapped into an atmospheric river system — a powerful plume of moisture that can deliver large amounts of precipitation. It has moved out of the region, giving Southern Californians a short reprieve from the wet weather.

But don’t put away those umbrellas just yet. More rain and snow is on the way beginning late Sunday.

The frigid conditions dropped snow levels to 1,000 feet in some areas on Saturday, enough for snowball fights, snowman building and the unusual sight of foothills glistening with sparkling powder. Mountain communities were slammed by intense snowfall, with Mountain High clocking an impressive 93 inches of snow. As of Sunday morning, Interstate 5 through the Grapevine was still closed due to snow, along with many mountain roads.

Those who say California doesn’t have seasons should think again, said Rich Thompson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

“This is definitely much more than your run-of-the-mill Southern California winter storm,” he said. “I think this kind of proves the point that, yes, we do get weather out here. It may not happen as much as other parts of the country, but we do get some really active weather out here at times.”

For communities that didn’t see snow, rain was plentiful. More than 10 inches fell in Woodland Hills, while Bel-Air received 6.76 inches of rain. Downtown Los Angeles saw 4.49 inches — a little more than 2 inches each on Friday and Saturday. It was only the sixth time since 1877 that downtown received that much rain in two consecutive days, according to the National Weather Service.

There were reports of flurries at the Hollywood sign and snow falling in places like Glendale and Santa Clarita. Some families traveled to snow-covered areas in the Antelope Valley for a day of fun.

On a hilltop in the Ana Verdes Hills neighborhood, Steven Lopez, 10, constructed a snowman as tall as himself while his siblings, Chelsea and Brandon, took turns sledding through desert shrubs. Their father, Arnan Lopez, took in the beauty of the snow-covered landscape.

“Back then we had to drive two hours to Big Bear. Now, it’s our backyard,” Lopez said, describing Saturday as “a perfect day.”

The storm is “going to be very memorable” for people in Southern California, Thompson said.

The system also created havoc across the Southland with reports of power outages, rescues, grounded flights and road closures. Southern California Edison’s outage map showed more than 7,600 customers without power, including about 4,900 in L.A. County, as of Sunday morning.

After a short dry spell, more rain is expected this week with a series of weaker storms moving through the area beginning late Sunday and lasting through Wednesday. The Los Angeles area is likely to see about an inch of rain total from those storms, and snow levels will rise to at least 3,500 feet, according to the weather service.

“It’ll be another shot of some rain and snow, but nothing like we just experienced,” Thompson said.