Snow in March? Storm gives SLO County mountains a dusting of white
San Luis Obispo County residents got a lingering taste of winter on Tuesday morning — a light dusting of snow decorated the tops of the mountains along the North Coast.
Along Highway 1 in Cambria, just south of San Simeon, motorists were treated to a view of the snow-covered Santa Lucia mountain range rising above green hills.
The Central Coast has gotten soaked with rain throughout March, and most areas of San Luis Obispo County have received 2 to 3 inches so far, according to John Lindsey, a PG&E meteorologist.
The San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport has recorded 3.3 inches of rain so far this month, exceeding its average March total of 3.2 inches.
San Luis Obispo seems to have received among the most substantial rainfall over the last 48 hours, Lindsey said, with with close to 3 inches in some places. But other locations also received a lot, including 2.72 inches in Arroyo Grande, 2.34 inches in Atascadero, 2.52 inches at Lopez Lake and 2.42 inches in Santa Margarita.
Recently, that’s resulted in snow at higher elevations, Lindsey said. He snapped a photo on Monday of snow on Figueroa Mountain in Santa Barbara County.
Noozhawk posted photos of the dusting on the Santa Ynez Mountains in Santa Barbara County, while noting that Highway 5 over the Grapevine closed briefly due to snow Monday night.
The National Weather Service forecasts a chance of showers Tuesday before partly-cloudy weather for the rest of the week locally, with the next chance of rain on Sunday.“Anything above 3,000 feet pretty much got a dusting of snow,” he said.
For example, Rocky Butte, a peak known as the rainiest spot in San Luis Obispo County, stands at 3,245 feet, Lindsey said.
There’s a chance area mountains may receive a small amount of additional precipitation on Wednesday, but temperatures are expected to gradually warm up later in the week, Lindsey said.
This story was originally published March 17, 2020 at 2:52 PM.
