NBC4 forecaster Fritz Coleman said the mixture of precipitation in West Los Angeles at about 3 p.m. included a dusting of snow. Residents in West Los Angeles said the snow accumulated in parking lots, on cars and around palm trees near Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards and other areas.
Most of the snow fell south of Sunset Boulevard and just east of the 405 Freeway. Residents told NBC4 that several inches of snow fell in their yards.
The last snowfall recorded at Los Angeles International Airport was in January 1962, according to the National Weather Service. Trace amounts -- less than 0.5 inches -- were reported, according to the NWS.
Snow fell earlier Wednesday in Malibu and caused traffic problems on the area's winding and narrow roads. Sleet made driving treacherous on Kanan Dume Road, a steep route through the Santa Monica Mountains where it's more typical to see beach-bound cars loaded with surfboards than a snowplow.
Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit points out that the "Gore Effect" is well-documented in the Urban Dictionary:
The well documented phenomenon that leads to very low, unseasonal temperatures, driving rain, hail, snow or all of the above whenever Al Gore visits an area to discuss global "warming". Hence the "Gore Effect"I hope that Gore brings his snowshoes and parka for Oscar night.
Example 1. Australia November 2006. Al Gore is visiting Australia 2 weeks before summer begins. News reports in The Age newspaper. "Ski resort operators gazed at the snow in amazement. Parents took children out of school and headed for the mountains. Cricketers scurried from the MCG amid bullets of hail as Melburnians traded lunchtime tales of the incredible cold. Yesterday, Antarctic winds produced snow across Victoria at levels as low as 400 metres, just two weeks before summer." The Gore Effect in action.
Example 2. New York USA Environment News, March 1, 2004.
"Gore chose January 15, 2004, one of the coldest days in New York City’s history, to rail against the Bush administration and global warming skeptics for their insistence that science should guide public policy, rather than the other way around. Global warming, Gore told a startled audience, is causing record cold temperatures."
