Snow dusting various Bay Area locations; hail accompanies thunderstorms

The latest cold front moving through the Bay Area Thursday brought snow and hail in various locations around the region in addition to the rain showers and occasional thunderstorms.

The California Highway Patrol posted images of a snow-covered state Highway 35 near Highway 9 west of Saratoga. Forecasters had predicted snow accumulating in elevations between 2,000 and 2,500 feet Thursday.

Members of Cal Fire CZU Station #21 at the Saratoga Summit posted a video on social media of the snow falling outside the station.

Snow also fell Thursday morning at Mount Hamilton east of San Jose. The following video is a time-lapse of snowfall over the course of two hours. 

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Mount Diablo in the East Bay also saw an accumulation of snow Thursday. Forecasters said snowfall could reach a few inches in the highest peaks of the North Bay, up to 3 inches in the Santa Cruz Mountains, up to 5 inches in the Diablo Range, and 6-12 inches in the Santa Lucia Range.

In Concord, hail came down on several neighborhoods; hail was also reported in San Ramon and Pleasanton among other East Bay locations. The National Weather Service said Thursday any thunderstorms that develop would potentially produce copious amounts of small hail.  

Forecasters said overnight lows will be mostly in the 40s, with some areas dropping into the upper 30s. The weather ramps up on Friday from "minor" to "moderate" showers, snow and thunderstorms in the North Bay and Santa Cruz County, with the rest of the region experiencing the same conditions as Thursday.

Showers may cause ponding in roadways and the possibility of rockslides will be present. People in areas with snow should watch out for slick roadways and minor traffic delays.

No rain or snow is forecast for the weekend, but the North Bay and Santa Cruz County could get chilly on Saturday morning and to a lesser degree on Sunday. 

Temperature ranges will be from the mid to upper 30s, with the coldest areas in the region's highest peaks. The Peninsula could see temperatures in the lower 40s.

Crystal Oudit, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said that though it may seem abnormal to have this much rain and even snow this far into the year, it has been known to happen.

"We've seen this before," Oudit said.

The weather service only makes weather predictions seven days out, she said, so there's no word on when or if rain and snow will finally begin to dissipate into warm, sunny spring weather.  

Bay City News contributed to this report.