Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by George Sakkestad

When 8-year-old Jessie Carilli went to visit relatives in Aldercroft Heights, the last thing she expected
to do was play in the snow. In fact, she found enough snow on Mt. Bache Road that she was able to take
a virtual bath in the white stuff.

Snow blankets mountains

By Shari Kaplan

Although March is the month that supposedly comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, the weather got ahead of itself Feb. 27 when more than two inches of snow fell in the Santa Cruz Mountains, briefly closing Highway 17 in both directions and closing four schools for the day.

After several cars lost traction and got stuck in the snow, the California Highway Patrol closed Highway 17 around 7:10 a.m., CHP spokesman John Maxfield said.

Los Gatos police and the town's public works department assisted the CHP by bringing cones and barricades to close the access ramps in Los Gatos. Portions of highways 9 and 152 were also closed during the morning hours.

Southbound 17 was reopened by 8:30 a.m., while northbound commuters were subject to "traffic breaks" for an additional hour, in which CHP patrol cars led small packs through dangerous areas of the highway to keep them driving at a safe rate of speed as well as safely spaced from each other.

The four closed schools were Loma Prieta Elementary and C.T. English Middle schools, Lakeside Elementary and Lexington Elementary. Loma Prieta Joint Union School District Superintendent Lee Tinder explained that the closures were due not so much to the snow itself but because snowy or icy road conditions made it unsafe for buses. Many students residing in the mountains get to or from school by bus. The highway closure would have prevented many teachers from getting to school anyway, Tinder said.