California was hit by snow, hail and violent rain storms just days after setting temperature records across the drought-hit state.
The dramatic cool-down saw snow fall along the Grapevine, the Interstate 5 route north of Los Angeles, while hail coated roads in Pasadena.
By late on Tuesday the snow level dropped to about 2600 feet in the Antelope Valley, and there was half a foot of snow in Pear Blossom at 3,500 feet.
“Pretty sure we had a heat advisory with temps 80 to 90 degrees just two days ago,” the National Weather Service office in Los Angeles tweeted.
The winter weather swept into the region on Tuesday thanks to a cold low-pressure system that moved south from Northern California.
Temperatures in the area fell into the 50s and 60s, a major change from the 89 degrees recorded on Saturday at Los Angeles International Airport, which beat the 1977 record of 88 degrees.
Records were also set in Ventura County north of Los Angeles, which hit 89 degrees in Camarillo and 90 in Oxnard, California.
“I haven’t see anything quite like this,” National Weather Service meteorologist Lisa Phillips said.
Meteorologists from The National Weather Service in Oxnard say that the lower temperatures were a return to normal for February, with the average temperature for the date is around 66 degrees.
The weather system also caused a kabob dust storm, generated by the sinking air from a thunderstorm, near the California-Nevada border, according to the NWS office in Las Vegas.
The low-pressure system was expected to leave the region by Wednesday, bringing a return of warmer and drier conditions.
Forecasters say that by Thursday and Friday, temperatures will climb back into the 70s.
