The winter storms that battered San Bernardino Mountain communities in February and March might have been the worst ever faced in San Bernardino County.
Between Feb. 21 and March 13, more than 4 feet of snow fell on the mountain communities. Roads clogged, stranding residents and workers. Powerlines severed, plunging families into darkness. Six months later, residents of the San Bernardino Mountains still haven’t fully recovered.
This is a timeline of how those 21 days played out for San Bernardino County leaders, including the stress, confusion and fear felt by mountain residents and county officials. It’s told through 2,343 pages of internal San Bernardino County emails obtained through a California Public Records Act request by the Southern California News Group. Logs from the county’s winter storm hotline call center were also released, but six months after the initial March 23 request, the county has yet to release text messages between high-ranking officials that are related to the snow emergency.
The documents show a county government that at first appeared more concerned about flooding than a blizzard and that found itself confronting communication issues with state legislators and outside government agencies.
Concerns about flooding make sense, said Dawn Rowe, chairperson of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors.
“Prior to the storm, that was our concern,” Rowe said, specifically along 22,000 acres burned by the El Dorado Fire in 2020. Today, most of the burn scar remains vulnerable to flash floods.
The county’s storm response showed the value of having a single publicly accessible source of information that everyone can access and the need to have a dedicated county staff liaison to deal with elected officials, Rowe said.
Tuesday, Feb. 21
Late-winter storms rolled in the last week of February. The National Weather Service issued its first blizzard warning in Southern California since 1989. In San Bernardino County, officials were preparing.
The first two storms were expected to drop 1 to 5 feet of snow above 4,000 feet and 5 to 6 feet of snow near Big Bear. By Wednesday night, Feb. 22, the snow level was forecasted to potentially fall to 2,000 feet.
The third storm, Thursday, Feb. 23, and Friday, Feb. 24, was expected to be warmer. Forecasters said it might melt snow, causing runoff in areas previously devastated by wildfire. Forecasts called for up to 8 inches of rain in the mountains.
The Department of Public Works had staff working 24 hours a day in 12-hour shifts until the storms passed.
“This is a dangerous storm,” the National Weather Service’s Los Angeles office tweeted. “Do not travel in the mountains Friday and Saturday.”
Friday, Feb. 24
Even as 1 to 2 feet of snow were forecast for the San Bernardino Mountains, county officials worried about runoff.
“Rain is expected to turn the heavy snow that fell earlier this week into potentially heavy runoff, posing a possible danger to areas below the El Dorado Fire burn scar,” county spokesperson David Wert wrote in an email to county officials.
Sunday, Feb. 26
According to the National Weather Service, 2 feet more of snow fell in Big Bear Lake, the only San Bernardino Mountains community for which the service archives data.
Now buried in snow, residents in Crestline, Lake Arrowhead and elsewhere in the mountains were frustrated. Rowe received an angry email from resident Alex Mendoza.
“It appears the state and (county) plows stood down while this storm hit, leaving snow to pile up,” the email reads. “Power is still out in certain areas with weather dropping to the 20s. The solution is not (to) call 911, they are overloaded. There is even an abandoned fire truck in Crestline, stuck in the snow. Where is our representation? I can only imagine how the response will be in a major earthquake.”
Mountain residents complained to the media of watching snow plows go over the same roads over and over again, while leaving secondary streets alone.
Department of Public Works “graders cannot always operate effectively in deep snow,” department spokesperson Amy Ledbetter wrote in an email to staff. “In conditions like this, it cuts down our fleet to mostly the loaders until we can reactivate the graders.”
Monday, Feb. 27
Three days after the blizzard began, San Bernardino County declared a state of emergency as residents continued emailing officials.
“People are absolutely stranded, cannot drive, may have run out of necessities and food, whose homes, roofs and decks are collapsing under the weight of 12,000 pounds of snow, need prescriptions or dire medical aid,” an email to Rowe from Lake Arrowhead resident Virginia Paleno reads. “I am afraid we will find out many have died … We cannot do it alone. It is too much for us to bear.”
Officials assembled talking points for the next day’s Board of Supervisors meeting:
- This was the first blizzard warning in San Bernardino County history
- There have not been any reports of major injuries or damage
- Another 2 feet of snow is expected Feb. 28 and 29
The county set up a hotline to get mountain residents information and connect them to the help they needed. Four calls came in the first day.
Tuesday, Feb. 28
In its second day, the hotline was more popular, receiving 122 phone calls, six days after the first weather service warnings.
“Client is unable to pay for another night at the motel she is staying at with her (redacted) small children,” one entry from the hotline call log reads. “She said she has the address (of the Redlands reception center) but she has no form of transportation because her car broke down today.”
Amber Anaya, of the Inland Counties Emergency Medical Agency, copied Daniel Muñoz, the county’s emergency operations director, on an email about how the storm was affecting San Bernardino, Inyo and Mono counties.
Mountains Community Hospital in Lake Arrowhead couldn’t transfer patients needing a higher level of care down the mountain, Anaya wrote. A county fire department ambulance was in an accident the night before and was out of commission. Hospital employees, many of them burned out and overwhelmed, couldn’t get to work because of unplowed roads or having no access to gas.
As of 7:30 p.m. Feb. 28, about 2,100 customers in Lake Arrowhead, Running Springs and Crestline lacked power, Southern California Edison spokesperson Jennifer Menjivar-Shaw wrote to county officials. A large tree had knocked out powerlines in Crestline. Heavy snowfall meant workers couldn’t get there safely.
Wednesday, March 1
Another 20 inches of snow fell in Big Bear Lake on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
The call center received 478 calls, nearly quadruple the number as the day before.
“Roof is cracking and potentially caving in; fire department is in communication with her to get her out,” the log of a call from Running Springs reads. “Is asking about a shelter for her to go to once she is out. Wants to get down from the mountain. Is very hysterical and crying on the phone.”
Upset Wrightwood residents wrote Supervisor Paul Cook’s office. The community had not been included in county update emails. Residents worried that meant the county didn’t have a plan for Wrightwood if conditions there worsened. Cook’s office asked the county communications team to mention Wrightwood in future emails.
Tim Donnelly, a former California Assembly member and Twin Peaks resident, wrote Rowe to pass along a rumor. Assemblyman Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale, had told him that San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus didn’t believe the county needed the National Guard’s help.
“If you can get Dicus to request Nat. Guard help, I can get him or you on (KFI radio talk show hosts) John and Ken and you can look like heroes,” Donnelly’s email reads.
“Or I can go back on (since they’ve said they’ll check back in with me) and I can tell them that you guys held a nice press conference and said a lot of nice words, but our roads are still impassible and it’s just a matter of time til someone dies as a result,” he wrote.
Rowe wrote Dicus about the rumor.
In her email, Rowe wrote that state Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, R-Redlands, “called me this evening and asked me why you didn’t want the state’s help, but I wasn’t sure what she was talking about. Now this email below came in.”
Lackey got it wrong, Dicus said.
“I did speak to Tom Lackey today,” Dicus’ email reads. “What Tom offered from the National Guard was heavy helicopter support to move manpower around. There was no conversation about any type of heavy equipment.”
The California Office of Emergency Services forwarded a report that the body of a Lake Arrowhead man was being stored in his garage. He had apparently died of a heart attack while shoveling snow, but his widow was unable to get anyone up to help her with the body. Then-county CEO Leonard X. Hernandez requested the Sheriff’s Department get someone to the home quickly.
Hernandez wrote high-ranking county officials. He explained he would be requesting $20 million at the emergency Board of Supervisors meeting later that day.
The money, he wrote, would be spent on purchasing or renting heavy equipment for snow removal, food and necessities for snowed-in residents, rebuilding public infrastructure and equipment and supplies to prevent secondary emergencies like flooding.
On Wednesday evening, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in 13 counties — including San Bernardino County — due to the storms.
Thursday, March 2
The call center received 930 calls.
“Snowplow (blocked) the driveway of the caller,” the log of a call from Big Bear City reads. “They are attempting to get to the emergency room. They called the sheriff’s department and the sheriff’s department provided the hotline number.”
By March 2 at 7:30 p.m., the number of customers in Lake Arrowhead, Running Springs and Crestline without power had dropped to 1,900. Only 200 more customers had power than had it on Feb. 28.
“We are doing everything we can while considering the safety of our employees and contract crews,” Edison spokesperson Menjivar-Shaw wrote to county officials.
Hernandez congratulated county staff on their good work.
“The recent storms of the last week were yet another reason to be proud,” his email read. “This past week and a half, more than a dozen county departments and their dedicated employees planned and executed a coordinated and comprehensive response to the unprecedented winter storms in our mountain communities.”
Leia Fletes, the county’s chief of government relations, wrote to then-county Chief Operations Officer Luther Snoke. The National Guard, she wrote, could provide help removing snow, but the county had to request authorization from CalOES. Until then, the National Guard was only authorized for “recon,” deliveries, and search-and-rescue operations in the mountains.
Friday, March 3
The call center received 1,048 calls. It was the call center’s busiest day.
“Street needs a plow so he and family can get out,” the log of a call from Cedar Glen reads. “Stated that he is all out of diesel to assist others. Wife is sick and has health issues, she will need medicine soon. Needs county to plow the roads. States he has equipment to assist in efforts. He want to know who to charge for plowing counties roads.”
A media report quoted CalOES spokesperson Brian Ferguson as saying the National Guard would be arriving in Lake Arrowhead the day before to assist residents and clear snow.
Rowe was not pleased.
“The world now has an expectation that we will be discussing this operation at today’s press conference,” she wrote in an email to Hernandez and county spokespersons. “I am hopeful that someone else is aware of this situation, since I am not.”
Hernandez replied, Rowe later wrote in an email to her staff.
“Leonard said CalOES is unaware of any resources being sent our way yet, so this is horrible that Brian Ferguson would say this,” Rowe wrote.
At noon, 1,100 mountains residents remained without power.
“That number fluctuates due to the dynamic situation” in the Lake Arrowhead, Running Springs and Crestline areas, according to Menjivar-Shaw.
Frustrated residents were emailing anyone they could. Clerk of the Board Lynna Monell received an email from Lake Arrowhead resident Jeannie Lerman.
“I live on an access road that has three elderly widows that are in their 80s and 90s and cannot possibly clear their driveways or a path to their houses!” Lerman’s email reads. “What resources do they have? Will the National Guard assist them? How do we/they get on a list for assistance? Please let me know.”
Saturday, March 4
The call center received 799 calls.
“In desperate need of street to be cleared of snow,” the log of a call from the Valley of Enchantment reads. “Have been calling every day, running out of food. No way to get to stores.”
The county began coordinating donations through the hotline, routing would-be donors to a second pool of operators.
Wert asked staff creating the donations flyer to be specific about what sort of donations, other than cash, were sought.
“The messaging should be clear about what else can be donated, and — very important for at least the public messaging — very clear about what cannot be donated. For instance, are we requiring that donations be in usable condition, clean, not in need of mending or repair, etc.? Past calls for donations have yielded soiled blankets, broken toys, etc., creating visuals of heaps of unused items that opened the county to criticism that donations were not being passed along to those in need.”
According to an email briefing prepared by county staff for the Board of Supervisors, two privately owned 20,000-gallon water tanks were destroyed by a snow slide in Forest Falls and a 100,040- gallon tank was damaged. Local residents continued to receive water from a secondary source — but were told to boil it.
After two gas-related fires overnight, county fire investigators and hazmat emergency responders searched for more gas leaks. The county, in cooperation with SoCal Gas, brought in a helicopter equipped with a gas spectrometer to identify and find gas leaks.
“Structure fires are a major concern,” the briefing reads, in part.
As of March 4, the storm response had cost more than $1.2 million, according to the briefing.
Hernandez vetoed supplies being brought in by private helicopter, which would lower them via 150-foot long cables.
“Dropping food from above into a crowded area is very concerning to us,” Hernandez wrote in an email to Michael Stoffel, deputy chief of staff for Supervisor Jesse Armendarez. “Our team is not supportive of this approach.”
Monday, March 6
The call center received 847 calls.
“Caller is currently snowed in, he found out today his driveway has a berm,” the log of a call from Crestline reads in part. “He has missed two doctors’ appointments in order to assess his (injured) hand … ‘Ukraine has better resources, and they have access to their roads.’”
The weather service warned of up to 1 inch of rain the coming weekend. It did not expect any flooding.
Hernandez didn’t want to take chances.
“I would like to see us address the worst-case scenario and we will need to message this out to residents,” he wrote in an email to senior staff.
Friday, March 10
The call center received 232 calls.
“The caller is calling about her sister who is elderly and snowed in,” the log of a call from Cedarpines Park reads. “She is out of food for herself and her pet. Her sister cannot hear well and is alone. The CHP is blocking the roads so they can’t bring her house. Instacart are not being allowed through.”
President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in California counties affected by the severe weather.
“The county is appreciative that the governor and now the president have recognized the seriousness of the disaster that has impacted our mountain residents and businesses,” Hernandez wrote in a draft statement that was shared with Rowe. “But it will take some time before it is determined if or when the presidential declaration might result in direct relief for our county.”
The aftermath
At least 46 inches of snow fell between Feb. 21 and March 13 in Big Bear Lake.
On Monday, March 13, Hernandez announced that “due to a significant reduction in hotline calls,” the call center would be switching from 24 hours a day to 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
“The call center has taken over 6,300 calls and seen call volumes decrease from a peak of 1,048 calls on March 3, to 171 calls on March 11,” he wrote in an email. “Overnight call volumes have also decreased with just 15 calls coming in overnight.”
Between Feb. 27 and March 29, the call center received 7,565 calls, according to the records. Of those, 2,266 came from callers in Crestline, 1,660 came from Lake Arrowhead and 845 came from Running Springs.
The widespread storm-related deaths that Donnelly and others feared would happen didn’t occur, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office.
The coroner’s office looked at nine deaths that could have been caused by the storm. But only one was ultimately determined to be storm-related, according to department spokesperson Mara Rodriguez.
San Bernardino County will be releasing a report on its storm response in fall.
The report was supposed to be released in mid-September. But at county supervisors’ Tuesday, Sept. 12, meeting, Snoke — now the county CEO — said Connect Consulting was hired to create the report. County officials first met with the firm in mid-August, he said.
“We’re a little behind, but this is in process and being worked through,” Snoke told the board.
The final report is scheduled to be delivered in late November.
Until then, county spokesperson Martha Guzman-Hurtado said there’s no official comment on what the county could have done differently during and after the storms.
“We are confident that once the After-Action Report is complete, the findings will shed light on any issues that may have impacted our storm response,” Guzman-Hurtado wrote in an email. “We expect to learn from the findings and make improvements where needed. Until then, it would be inappropriate to speculate on what those issues may have been.”
More on the San Bernardino Mountains winter storms
- Snow falls in cities, lightning strikes at beaches as historic storm pounds Southern California
- Here’s how much rain and snow the storm dropped on Southern California cities
- Southern California’s mountain towns remain buried under snow with more on the way
- ‘Plow the roads,’ mountain residents say, as San Bernardino County vows to do better
- ‘We are coming,’ San Bernardino County officials tell trapped mountain residents
- County communications cause frustration for San Bernardino Mountains residents
- Coroner: 1 death in San Bernardino Mountains linked to recent storms; 8 others being investigated
- California winter weather state of emergency declared by Biden
- How well did San Bernardino County respond to the winter storms?
- Weeks after severe storm, residents in San Bernardino Mountains embark on arduous recovery
- 6 months after San Bernardino Mountains battered by storms, recovery far from over
