Residents in Fallbrook, Murrieta and Temecula got a rare treat this New Year’s Eve morning: Measureable snow for the first time in years.
Seldom do the snow levels drop as low as 1,500 feet – the elevation at Fallbrook – but temperatures dipped down to freezing, leading to several inches of snow across the lowland parts.
“People were running outside in their pajamas,” NBC 7 meteorologist Jodi Kodesh said of messages she received from friends and viewers. “I thought it was awesome.”
The last time snow elevations dropped down to 1,500 was two years ago, said National Weather Service meteorologist James Thomas. However, that weather event did not produce significant snowfall, as was seen on Wednesday morning.
Thomas said the weather service is still collecting data on the last significant snowfall in that area.
One Murrieta resident told NBC 7 the last time he's seen measureable snowfall there was in 2004.
Between 2 and 2.5 inches of snow fell in Murrieta and 3 inches accumulated on the south side of Temecula, Thomas said. Fallbrook snowfall was estimated at 1 inch.
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The snow was awesome to see, yes, but the unusual early morning snowfall led to a major traffic backup on Interstate 15 between Fallbrook and Temecula. The snow was falling so hard that crews couldn’t get snow plows out on the roads fast enough, Kodesh said.
Traffic was shutdown on the 15 near Clinton Keith Road at about 3 a.m.. According to published reports, the snow caused a number of drivers to be stranded in their cars.
“Cars were forced to stop,” Kodesh said. “They couldn’t even drive.”
As of 8 a.m., traffic appears to be running smoothly again.
Will the rare lowland snow continue into midmorning? Kodesh said with temperatures warming up and the moisture departing, it looks like it was only an early morning rare treat.
