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Long-time residents recall 1976 blizzard that blanketed the Bay Area

Updated on: February 23, 2023 / 12:00 PM PST / CBS San Francisco

Snowstorm: With snow in forecast; Berkeley Hills residents recall 1976 blizzard

BERKELEY -- With snow levels dropping down to 1500 feet Thursday morning, some in the Berkeley Hills are hoping to see some flakes fall.

The forecast has long-time Berkeley resident Debbie Kendall recalling the blizzard of 1976.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - FEB. 5: Sutro Tower as seen after an especially strong snowfall in San Francisco on Feb. 5, 1976. (Art Frisch/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images) San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst N

"I've lived here for 32 years," Kendall told KPIX.

Over the decades, she's seen snow flurries here and there but the snow storm in the 1970's is the one she remembers the most.

"We had a substantial amount of snow up here," she said of the 1976 blizzard. "We probably had 3 inches or something. People drove down the hill that day and they had snow on their cars so that's the most snow I ever remember."

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - FEB. 5: It snowed one to two inches on San Francisco streets in Feb. 5, 1976, dusting the Marin Headlands, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. (Art Frisch/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images) San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst N

With snow levels dropping down to 1500 feet, there's a good chance the Berkeley Hills will see a good dusting of snow again.

Some forecasts are predicting a few inches of snow in the Grizzly Peak area in the next couple of days. How much of it sticks will depend on the ground temperature.

"I've lived in the Bay Area for 18 years and there's only one other time that there was any sort of snow in the Bay," said Michelle Green.

Feb. 5, 1976: A girl builds a snowman in Golden Gate Park during a rare San Francisco snowfall in 1976. Clem Albers/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

Green is looking forward to seeing snowflakes and doesn't mind the cold temperatures. She is concerned though about her vegetable garden and fruit trees and how the cold will impact them.

But it's the people she's worried about the most. Berkeley has set up an emergency warming center at the North Berkeley Senior Center to get people out of the cold.

"I'm worried for all the people outside or losing their heat," Green said. "The bills that are going up because of the cost of natural gas and all that stuff. I think that's what I think about the most. It's already hard to live in the Bay Area, it's going to add an extra little stress on folks."

The shelter will be open through the morning and then the City of Berkeley will assess if it will need to be open again Thursday night.

If the snow does fall and stick, it's recommended that you stay off the roads. There's a potential for black ice and there are extremely steep grades in this area, especially in Marin Avenue.