Southern California just got a blizzard warning for the first time in over 30 years. Here's what the Golden State looks like under a blanket of snow.
- California is experiencing a rare winter storm this week.
- Some areas of the Golden State have seen several feet of snow and wind gusts up to 80 mph.
California is currently experiencing a rare winter storm event, with the National Weather Service reporting up to 8 feet of snow in higher elevations and 80-mph wind gusts.
On Friday, the weather agency issued a blizzard warning for Los Angeles and Ventura counties' mountain regions for the first time since 1989. The alert will remain in effect until Saturday late afternoon.
Up north near the San Francisco Bay Area, residents in lower elevated areas reported seeing up to a foot of snow.
"We've never had this much snow before," John Conover, a Napa Valley resident and managing partner of CADE Estate Winery, told Insider.
CADE Estate Winery is located at about 1,70o feet above sea level, Conover said. The area typically receives a little bit of snow each year but it usually melts away by the afternoon.
This time, the snow was here to stay.
"It's gonna be there tomorrow, which is unusual," Conover said. "We get a little snow every year. Nothing like this. I think it's gonna be up there for two or three days."
The weather has created some hazardous conditions, causing highway closures and power outages for about 80,000 customers by Friday night, mostly in northern California, according to PowerOutage.us.
Here are some California regions that experienced an unusual amount of snow.
Hollywood Hills
The Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California, saw dusts of snow for the first time in decades.
Flash flood warnings have also been issued throughout Los Angeles and Ventura counties as the region experiences several inches of rainfall.
Berkeley
Parts of the East Bay Area saw the biggest snowstorm in over a decade, Berkeleyside reported.
The Berkeley Hills recieved about three inches of snow on Friday, according to the news outlet.
Locals pulled out their skiing gear.
Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara County's interior mountains may experience up to 11 inches of snow on Friday evening, according to the National Weather Service.
Snow was also spotted around the Painted Cave Road, according to the Santa Barbara Independent, sharing reader-submitted videos of people snowboarding on a few inches of snow.
Yucaipa
Schools were closed during the rare snow event in Yucaipa, a city in southern California about 10 miles east of San Bernardino, CBS News reported.
The weather created hazardous road conditions, causing a 20-vehicle pile-up on the 10 freeway on Wednesday evening. At least eight people were injured, according to Cal Fire San Bernardino Unit.
Napa Valley
California's Wine Country experienced an unusual amount of snow.
But wine enthusiasts like John Conover, the CADE winery managing partner, don't have to worry. Vines need the cold period to be dormant, he said.
"This is part of why Napa is so great for growing wine grapes — we have this wintertime when it gets 30 degrees on a regular basis this time of year without the snow," he said. "It causes the vine to kind of go to sleep and store all these carbohydrates in the root system."
Some of the wineries managed by CADE can't be accessed due to the weather, Conover said. But at the valley floor, customers are flocking.
"We've redeployed our staff down to the other wineries," he said. "We're actually sold out at both wineries tomorrow."
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