Hailstorms Turn Bay Area Neighborhoods Into Wintry Postcards
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- An unseasonably cold storm front rolled into the Bay Area early Monday, unleashing heavy downpours and pounding hailstorms that turned driving in the Oakland hills into a treacherous commute.
Helicopter video showed traffic at a standstill in the hills near Oakland's Skyline High as a coating of hail on street sent several vehicles sliding out of control.
A KPIX 5 viewer tweeted this picture of a kid attempting to sled down a hail-covered hill in the Oakland Hills.
In nearby Alameda, a hailstorm covered the police department's parking lot and several neighborhoods. Authorities were reporting numerous weather related traffic accidents across the Bay Area.
Hail also fell in the South Bay, as KPIX 5 reporter Jessica Flores recorded video hail falling at the Caltrain station in Mountain View.
Several other locations received small hail including San Jose, Monterey, Pacific Grove and many cities in Santa Clara County.
The low pressure system spinning off the coast sent wave after wave of potent storm cells into the region. A neighborhood may have clear skies at one minute and seconds later be drenched by rain and hail.
The National Weather Service said the snow levels would drop to as low as 3,000 feet through the day which would support some snow showers in the higher
elevations. A dusting of snow will be possible in the Bay Area peaks with light accumulations possible in the Santa Lucia Mountains of Monterey County.
Forecasters predicted isolated thunderstorms with nearly a dozen detected off shore and heading into the Bay Area at around 8:30 a.m.
