“It was a treat.” Photo: Joe Rickabaugh
On Thursday, an unfamiliar substance accumulated on the sands of Leo Carillo beach and other parts of Malibu, California: snow. The occurrence is so rare that many Los Angeles residents had no idea what was falling from the sky. “Wait, why is it raining white?” thought one Malibu Surf Shack employee.
Local surfer and purveyor of good vibes, Joe Rickabaugh, was live on the scene at Leo Carrillo documenting the weather anomaly on Instagram.
“We’re live at Leo Carrilo where there was a fire a couple months ago. But people, it’s snowing a little bit of snow on the beach,” he said on video. “It’s hot. It’s spicy. It’s organic. It’s all good vibes now people…We’re calling the surf today about one foot. Snow about a quarter inch…It was a treat.”
According to the LA Times, in addition to Malibu, snow fell in Pasadena, West Hollywood, Northridge, San Bernardino, Thousand Oaks, and parts of Orange County thanks to a chilly storm originating from Alberta, Canada. At lower elevations, the white stuff only lasted a short time before the sun emerged and melted it all away, but elsewhere it caused major disruptions. Snow plows were reportedly brought out to clear parts of the Ortega Highway that connects Southern Orange County with Lake Elsinore.