Winter Storm — San Diego County Mountains, California

2019-02-05 to 2019-02-06 · San Diego County Mountains, California

Event narrative

Black ice following low elevation snowfall during the morning of February 6th occurred causing numerous accidents on Interstate 8 and 2 fatalities in separate accidents. One motorist slid off the interstate over a cliff and into a creek near Boulevard and another died trying to avoid additional spin outs and fell off Pine Valley creek bridge. Interstate 8 was closed during the morning hours and vehicles had to turn around at about 2500 feet elevation near Alpine.

Wider weather episode

A cold front moved through Southern California and brought widespread rain, a few inches of snow, and frost to the region. Total rainfall amounts ranged from 1 to 2 inches, locally 4 inches in the San Diego County Mountains. Hourly rainfall thresholds for the Holy burn scar were exceeded in a couple of canyons, with the highest threshold of 0.71 per hour in Horsethief Canyon. Widespread frost occurred on February 7th, and reached the coastal areas of San Diego and Orange Counties. Icy roads on I-8 resulted in traffic accidents and two fatalities.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 810660. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.