Snow Falls in S.F. as Cold Snap Grips State

Californians were thrust into the holiday spirit Sunday with freezing temperatures and reports of snow from Monterey to Sonoma County.

Even in the Bay Area, where snowflakes are rare, residents got a fleeting chance to revel in the winter wonderland.

Laura Axelrod, who moved to San Francisco from Connecticut, left her book and cup of coffee to dash outside a Castro district cafe with her arms outstretched.

“That was real snow, it wasn’t just ice,” she said. “I keep telling all my friends back East that I want to come back because there’s no snow in San Francisco. Now it’s snowing in San Francisco. I don’t know what I’m going to tell them.”

In Los Angeles County, no snow was reported, but the breezy weather produced a high of 57 and a low of 50 at the Civic Center. A trace of rain--0.02 of an inch--was reported.

Jeff House, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides weather information and forecasts for The Times, said the Los Angeles Basin can expect cool temperatures and mostly sunny skies today. Highs will be in the 50s. Lows will be in the upper 30s.

In San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, part of which is closed to vehicles on Sundays when it’s normally packed with roller-bladers, runners and bikers, a handful of joggers bundled up and sported ear muffs to brave the chilly temperatures.

The mercury hovered in the low- to mid-40s throughout much of the Bay Area at midday Sunday.

While the National Weather Service reported no “official” snowfall, spokesman Rick Canepa said spotters had seen flurries from Monterey to Santa Rosa.

The hail and snow flurries were the result of a huge cold-air mass from Canada, he said.

The weather service was expected to issue a freeze warning in the Bay Area for Sunday night and predicted the chilly weather would last through the week.