Southern California mountains see season’s first snow, with another storm forecast for next week
As early as midnight last night crews on fire crews worked to clear up the most dangerous situation they’ve had to deal with all year in the San Gabriel Mountains.
The weather bureau predicted an inch of snow for the mountains tonight before the storm system moves in Sunday and Monday.
“So far, so good for us. We’ve got snow out here, and it’s coming down as fast as we can get it out. It looks like it’s going to be a good solid storm with the warm front moving in, and it’ll be up there tonight and tomorrow night and the next couple of days,” said Capt. Chris Haney with the San Gabriel Mountains Fire Protection District.
Crews said the snow will be in the foothills and mountains, but with good visibility and temperatures above average.
The snow is expected to end by midnight.
The San Bernardino National Forest reported a snow total of 19 inches. San Bernardino National Forest Supervisor Gary Estrada said that amount of snow is the first snow this season for the forest, as they hope for the rest of the season.
“We’ve been waiting for snow until we come into the summer. This is a special time of the year for us,” he said.
Crews working in the San Gabriels reported over 20,000 calls to 911 for a wide range of issues.
At the moment, there are no road closures on the mountain.
In the community of San Dimas, they said the main route into the community has been closed due to a landslide.
An emergency alert was sent out by the San Dimas Fire Department for the community, advising residents to evacuate. A helicopter was sent in to clear the area.
Another emergency alert was sent out for San Dimas in regard to flooding. That alert advised residents to evacuate.
“There’s been a lot of rain and a lot of snow, and those roads are just too poor to deal with anything other than a flood situation,” said Michael Amenta, Battalion Chief with the San Dimas Fire Department. “There’s nothing we can do about that, so we’re just advising all the residents to get out of the area and stay away from the roads.”
In the San Gabriel Mountains, crews said no new