{"id":180961,"date":"2026-02-17T02:58:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T02:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/180961\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T02:58:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T02:58:14","slug":"blizzard-like-conditions-hit-big-bear-as-winter-storm-pounds-southern-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/180961\/","title":{"rendered":"Blizzard-like conditions hit Big Bear as winter storm pounds Southern California"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1mibxgqo440qpdup.jpg\" alt=\"Heavy snow impacting driving conditions in local mountains \" class=\"sr-only\" data-v-4292be72=\"\"\/>    <\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">LOS ANGELES &#8211; A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxla.com\/weather\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">winter storm warning<\/a> is in effect for the mountains across <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxla.com\/tag\/us\/ca\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Southern California<\/a> as strong winds and heavy snow batter the region, reducing visibility and making travel dangerous.<\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">Monday afternoon, snowplows worked to keep Highway 18 passable as conditions deteriorated outside Big Bear. Drivers heading up from Highland reported near-zero visibility at times, with chain controls requiring vehicles to use tire chains or four-wheel drive.<\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"KTTV\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-2899190a=\"\">What they&#8217;re saying:<\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">&#8220;Pretty bad. Slipping and sliding on the way up. But it was OK, not too bad. A lot of people pulled over on the side of the road,&#8221; said snowboarder Mike Anchondo.<\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">Chain crews were seen scrambling in pouring rain to install chains for drivers caught off guard by the storm\u2019s early arrival.<\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">&#8220;It\u2019s wet. Cold. But don\u2019t mind it. Somebody\u2019s got to do it,&#8221; said one worker assisting motorists.<\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxla.com\/news\/evacuation-warnings-issued-powerful-storms-target-southern-california\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Flash flood warning issued in Los Angeles as storm soaks region<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">Another driver, Stephen, who traveled from San Diego, said the timing surprised him. &#8220;I thought this was coming in later tonight. Obviously, it came in a little early.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> More snowfall on the way\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"KTTV\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-2899190a=\"\">What&#8217;s next:<\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">Forecasters say the storm could drop between 1 and 3 feet of snow at higher elevations, with another system later in the week potentially adding 1 to 2 more feet. Officials warned that additional snowfall expected later this week could further impact travel and mountain conditions.<\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">The snowfall is expected to benefit ski resorts, though some visitors cut trips short because of the intensity.<\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">&#8220;We thought we were going to ski a few runs and we only got in three. It\u2019s just crazy. You can\u2019t see in front of yourself,&#8221; said Lisa, who had been skiing at Snow Valley Resort. &#8220;We\u2019re heading home.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">Still, others embraced the conditions.<\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">&#8220;If you can make it up here, make some memories. Live life on the edge. This is the place to be,&#8221; one skier said.<\/p>\n<p data-v-2899190a=\"\">Anchondo said he was unconcerned about getting stranded. &#8220;Nah. Heck no. I drive a Tremor truck. I\u2019ll be fine.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"group-source-paragraph\" data-v-4fbf7207=\"\">The Source: Information for this story came from weather forecasters along with interviews with local skiers and snowboarders at Big Bear.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxla.com\/tag\/us\/ca\/san-bernardino-county\/big-bear-lake\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-2899190a=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Big Bear Lake<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxla.com\/tag\/weather\/severe-weather\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-2899190a=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Severe Weather<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES &#8211; A winter storm warning is in effect for the mountains across Southern California as strong&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180962,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[18454,1184,7,9,8,100,5518,634,1181,19],"class_list":{"0":"post-180961","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-big-bear-lake","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-california-headlines","12":"tag-california-news","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-san-bernardino-county","15":"tag-severe-weather","16":"tag-us","17":"tag-weather"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}