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Snow fell in the Sunset District of San Francisco on Feb. 26, 2011. Officially, on a trace fell in the city. <\/p>\n
(NWS-Monterey, California)<\/p>\n
We’re used to seeing California snow in places like the Sierra and mountains of the Los Angeles Basin, leading to epic ski conditions in the high country.<\/p>\n
But 15 years ago on Feb. 26, 2011, an unusually cold storm system<\/a> produced a rare sight: falling snow at sea level in San Francisco.<\/p>\n These early morning flakes didn’t amount to much. Officially, it went into the records as a “trace” of snow.<\/p>\n Weather in your inbox<\/p>\n By signing up you agree to the Terms<\/a> & Privacy Policy<\/a>. Unsubscribe at any time.<\/p>\n But the spectacle of snowflakes in the city, rather than just atop Twin Peaks or in the East Bay Hills, was quite a sight as temperatures plunged to new daily records in the low-mid 30s.<\/p>\n Snow did accumulate in several other locations unaccustomed to it, including Carmel Valley, just southeast of Monterey, and along the Big Sur Coast, where 3 inches was seen on the ground.<\/p>\n According to Bay Area meteorologist Jan Null, it has been 50 years since the last measurable snowfall in San Francisco, a 1-inch event on Feb. 5, 1976. Null noted 10 other such snow events prior to 1976<\/a>.<\/p>\n The city’s heaviest snowfall on record was on Feb. 5, 1887, when 3.7 inches was measured downtown, with some 7-inch totals in other parts of the city.<\/p>\n (MORE: The Weirdest Places It Has Snowed<\/a>)<\/p>\n Snow dusted this vehicle in Carmel Valley, California, on Feb. 26, 2011. <\/p>\n (NWS-Monterey, California)<\/p>\n Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on Bluesky<\/a>, X (formerly Twitter)<\/a> and Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/weather.com\/_next\/static\/media\/morning-brief-logo.c6e2f5db.svg\"\/){kind=logo}
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