Winter Storm — San Bernardino County Mountains, California
2023-03-01 to 2023-03-02 · San Bernardino County Mountains, California
Event narrative
An historic winter storm continued to produce very heavy snowfall in the San Bernardino County Mountains on March 1st. The final round of snow with this storm resulted in additional snowfall totals of anywhere from a few inches at some mountain communities between 5000-6000 feet in elevation, to upwards of 2-3 feet at many ski resorts. This resulted in storm total snowfall amounts ranging from 9-12 feet in many ski resorts, 5-9 feet of snow in many mountain communities at or above 6000 feet in elevation, 2-5 feet of snow at elevations between 5000-6000 feet, 1-3 feet of snow at elevations between 3000-5000 feet, and some reports of accumulating snow at elevations as low as 1000 feet. Some notable reports from February 22 to March 1 include 150 at Snow Valley, 134 at Snow Summit on Bear Mountain, 115 at Mountain High near Mount Baldy, 108 near Lake Arrowhead (32 inches in 24 hours), End of Baldy Road at 6400 feet with 103 inches (40 inches in 24 hours February 25-26), 100 in Crestline (35 inches in 24 hours February 25-26), 95 in Arrowbear, 82 in Big Bear Lake yard, 76 in Forest Falls, 64 at Top of the Tram Mt San Jacinto 8400 feet, 63 Angelus Oaks, 56-62 in Wrightwood 5800 to 6200 feet, and 58 inches at Baldwin Lake (east Big Bear city) and Palomar Mountain at 5700 feet. Multiple reports of roofs collapsing due to snow load were received from the Lake Arrowhead and Crestline areas, resulting in several rescues. The Goodwin Grocery Store in Crestline had its entire roof collapse. Recovery efforts from this winter storm spanned several weeks after the storm itself. State highway closures lasted up to 3 weeks including Highways 18 and 330. Several hundred rescues occurred, some by snowcat, of residence from February 28 to March 10. Gas service was interrupted to thousands with up to 700 service calls. There were 12 homes burned by fires related to gas pressure damage from the heavy snowfall. Only emergency personnel (up to 1000 at peak) for rescue and snow removal were allowed into the mountains on state highways through mid March. Initially helicopters from CalDART and California National Guard delivered food and supplies. Later meals were provided at selected locations for the entire month of March for those displaced or not able to drive. Ski areas were closed from a few days (Mt Baldy) to 2 1/2 weeks (Snow Valley).
Wider weather episode
After one powerful storm struck Southern California in late February, a second storm arrived at the end of February and into early March. This second storm produced several additional feet of snow as well as high winds in the mountains, where many communities were already struggling due to snow and wind impacts from the first storm. This led to many gas leaks from failing lines that started home fires, extended road closures, numerous power outages, many downed trees, about 250 rescues from mountains in the area, as well as at least one confirmed storm-related death, and an extensive recovery process that lasted well beyond the event. About 12 persons were reported dead, though the causes of the other 11 are uncertain at this time. A Presidential Major Disaster Declaration was approved following this event.
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1084499. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.