Big Chill Closes Roads; Inland Areas on Alert : Snow Down to 2,000 Feet in East County

The cold snap continued to chill San Diego County on Wednesday, dropping snow that closed freeways and schools in East County while prompting overnight frost warnings.

Snow, which was down to the 2,000-foot level, forced the closure of Interstate 8 Wednesday between East Willow Road, near Alpine, and Ocotillo. The freeway was impassable between 9 a.m. and late Wednesday afternoon, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol said. By 9:30 p.m. all lanes were open up to La Posta Road, but only one eastbound lane was reported open all the way to Ocotillo.

Snow also closed a stretch of California 78 from just east of Santa Ysabel to Julian, all roads on Palomar Mountain and County Road S22 from Borrego Springs west to the mountains.

One forecaster said Julian reported 10 inches of snow by 3 p.m. Wednesday, and another forecaster reported snow falling just east of Alpine and at Borrego Springs in the desert. The Julian, Mountain Empire and Warner school districts were closed because of the snowfall.

On the coast, neither the Coast Guard nor the Harbor Patrol reported any problems caused by the weather.

Temperatures were to drop to the mid-20s Wednesday night in the agricultural areas of Pauma Valley, Escondido and Valley Center, said Wilbur Shigehara of the National Weather Service. He said frost warnings will continue tonight for parts of North County and East County.

Lows Wednesday night were to be around 40 degrees near downtown, Shigehara said. Residents of beach areas will be about 5 degrees warmer because of the humidity of the ocean, he said.

In Mission Valley, temperatures were to be in the mid-30s Wednesday night. They were to dip to the upper 20s in Poway, Escondido and inland areas, Shigehara said.