Prayers Were Said, Cars Were Washed--and Snow Finally Arrived

In the midst of a snowless winter in the San Gabriel Mountains, some turn to car-washing. “It’s kind of a local tradition,” said Cliff Fowler, owner of Big Bear Sporting Goods Store. “When it’s late in the season and there hasn’t been any snowfall, we organize a car-washing campaign. As soon as everybody gets their cars spit-shiny, the snow is bound to come and cover them all up.”

So, earlier this week, Fowler spent an evening cleaning and waxing his car.

“It’s the equivalent to a rain dance, I guess. Whatever, it works,” he said as he looked out at the six inches of snow that had accumulated in front of his store since early Friday morning.

It was the first major snowfall of the winter in Southern California, covering some mountain areas with up to a foot of what some of the 14,000 residents in Big Bear Lake refer to as “the white stuff.”

Slight flurries Thursday had raised the hopes of Big Bear residents. But by nightfall, the sky had cleared and weather forecasts mentioned only a 20% chance of rain showers.

“There was a lot of praying that it would get more serious,” said Jim Bollingmo, owner of Alpine Sports Center and a resident in Big Bear Lake for 28 years.

Then, moisture from a low-pressure system that had already passed over Southern California unexpectedly doubled back into the mountains and dropped six to 12 inches of cover.

“There was a lot of hollering this morning,” Bollingmo said. “When people came outside and saw the snow, the cheering was a lot like a football game.”

Bollingmo said the sales pace at his sporting goods business has been “absolutely nuts.”

Tire chains, ski gloves and after-ski boots are the top-selling items, the owner said.

“This is the kind of thing we pray for in my business,” he said.

“All of us hope for snow,” said Elaine Swope, manager of the Marina Riviera Resort in Big Bear Lake. “It does boost our business, but it is more than just that. I don’t know what it is about snow. It just makes everybody so excited.”

Friday’s snow was unexpected, said Rick Dittmann, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides The Times with weather forecasts.

The snowfall was expected to taper off by late Friday, he said.