Snow Blankets San Diego

Snow prompted Julian and Mountain Empire schools to close

Signs along Interstate 8 were plastered with snow Monday night as the winter storm San Diego had anticipated dropped almost a foot of snow in some parts of the East County.

As of 7 a.m. Tuesday, there was very low visibilty on roads headed to Julian. 

Plows had a hard time keeping up with the snowfall, even at lower elevations.

The National Weather Service has received some reports of 9 to 10 inches of snow above the 4500-foot level, 3 to 6 inches around the 3500-foot level and 1 to 2 inches around the 2000-foot level.

Schools in Julian are closed Tuesday. The Mountain Empire School District, which initially announced a 2-hour start delay, decided to cancel classes as of 7 a.m.

This was the Julian schools' third snow day in one month. The district says it factors in two snow days per year and will now have to apply to the state for a waiver to still get funding for Tuesday.

Pine Valley, at the 3700-foot level, rarely gets more than a few inches of snow but Monday the snow, combined with the wind, made for blizzard-like conditions.

Chains were required for mountain roads.

Even so, one woman from Chula Vista was excited to see the product of the cold winter storm.

"It's really cool to be able to go to the beach during the day and drive to the snow later," said Victoria Rochat. "It's nice to have both of them at the same time."

The storm brought back memories for a Pine Valley resident who used to live in Chicago.

β€œSome good, some bad. Getting stuck in the snow is not very fun. Being cold is not very fun. It’s kind of cool though to see snow in California,” Angela McMahon said.

The blustery weather is expected to taper off Tuesday giving way to clear skies but cool temperatures. 

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