Wishing for a White Christmas?

 In January 1876, snow lay on the mountains for over two weeks. It had already been a wet winter with rain starting in earnest in November 1875. This latest snow storm had blanketed almost the entire state and mail delivery from the east failed to reach San Francisco due to a snow blockade. On Ben Lomond Mountain the snow was ten inches deep. Boulder Creek was covered with three to five inches of the powdery stuff and “The promiscuous manner in which snow balls flew about … was astonishing.”

The heavy weight of the snow and the strong southerly wind did much damage with many fallen trees and broken limbs. The flume which carried cut lumber from just north of Boulder Creek to Felton suffered severely from the fallen timber.

Then just a week later another relentless rainstorm pummeled the area. The high tide and rapidly rising San Lorenzo River caused flooding the lower sections of Santa Cruz and the storm laid down more snow on the surrounding mountain tops. This was to be a very cold and wet winter. By the end of February, the coastal range peaks had been covered with more than a foot of snow at least three times. Then in March, again the mountains wore a “fleecy mantle.” Hail showers halted operation of the railroad, the whole county was a “sea of mud and water,” and business was at a stand-still.

Through the historic record, snow in the Valley and in our mountains during the winter was not uncommon, though usually just a sprinkling which melted with the winter sun. A cold snap in 1884, however, saw eighteen inches of snow on Loma Prieta’s peak with snow drifts that were waist deep.

In January 1907, over 12 inches of snow was estimated to have fallen in Boulder Creek, accompanied by a heavy storm of sleet and rain. It was deemed the greatest snow storm since 1873. Santa Cruz Sentinel, January 8, 1907:

Snowball parties are the rage and on every street small bands of men and women can be seen carrying baskets filled with balls of snowy whiteness and icy hardness. All that one has to do is to poke a head outside the door an “bang!” here come a snowball on its mission of fun and mirth. The different fraternal orders formed into companies and Sunday afternoon had a grand battle on the school grounds, the fight resulting in a drawn battle between the Maccabees and the Knights of the Golden Circle. Down town there was a high spirited contest between the “Scrap Irons” and the “Bow Wows” that progressed more or less fiercely the entire day and far into the night, attended with an effusion of blood as the combatants warmed up to their work. … ‘Tis a glorious taste of winter frolic and all are enjoying it while it lasts.

On January 7, 1907, Charles Brimblecom wrote in his diary:

The ground was still covered with snow this morning, and sleet and half frozen rain coming down. About noon it snowed heavily again, covering the ground more thickly than yesterday, and bending down the bushes and young timber. … I hope the “beautiful snow” will soon melt off, for I like it not.

Santa Cruz Stage Co. omnibuses on the San Jose to Santa Cruz road, now Highway 17, on a snowy day in 1925.  

Most often, snow flurries here during the months of January through March, but in 2008 we did see December snow plows clearing the roads across the mountain peaks.

Snow on Highway 9, December 16, 2008, photograph by the author.