We love our snow days here in the East Bay hills! Today the snow even stuck around, due to cold temperatures. Too curious to sit still, we headed uphill to see the white stuff.
There was snow on many rooftops below 1,000 feet, and bushes and hillsides remains sprinkled as well. Once we rounded the bend to Skyline Boulevard, the evidence of wintertime was everywhere.
Evidence #1: Well, you can see the snow underfoot, which wasn’t deep but definitely widespread. I should have dressed up for the occasion with real winter boots, but you get the picture looking down. It felt great to hear and feel the crunch for a while today.
Evidence #2: Huckleberry Regional Preserve was showing off its winterized, holiday look as well. We don’t see the snow-covered grasses very often, as snapped here. So many of the trees and shrubs were covered, and not melting in the shadows either.
Evidence #3: Folks gathered up on Skyline, to record the day for posterity. It was funny to watch everyone stop cold, almost taken aback by the great Eastern vista. No one had seen this much snow, this late in the day.
Evidence #4: Unlike most snows, this one ventured lower in altitude last night. While we normally get thrilled by a snow-topped Mt. Diablo, the range views were even better. From Skyline, we gazed out at the East Bay Himalayan Range today – what a rarity!
Today in Montclair, 94611 
Sorry to have missed the snow. I’m in Moline where we’re staring down the throat of a blizzard that’s supposed to descend on us tomorrow. We had about half an inch here last night, too. I was surprised when I called my wife (who’s in Oakland) and she said that the snow level had dropped to about 500 feet.
Somewhere in our new apartment in Adams Point I have photos of myself sliding in the snow that fell on Scout Road back in the early 1970s. We had a cold snap that lasted a couple of weeks and at least one tiny snowstorm. When I get back to Oakland later this month I’ll try to find those pictures.
Mark