Sep 2, 2020
104 Years Ago Today: Snow Blankets Marin
by Laurie Thompson
Every few decades, Marin as well as other parts of the Bay Area, experience a rare winter snow fall. One such snow storm occurred one hundred and four years ago today on January 9, 1913, when snow blanketed not only Mount Tamalpais but communities throughout Marin.
The January 10, 1913 San Francisco Call reported:
San Francisco’s younger generation learned for the first time yesterday the delights of hurling snowballs at each other…. All of the bay counties shared in the treat and in some of the remote parts of the counties the snow fell in such quantities as to break limbs from trees unused to the burden from four to five inches of white crystals. Mount Tamalpais presented a beautiful appearance, covered as it was with five inches of alabaster….
The hills back of Berkeley and the Marin county hills were concealed beneath a blanket of snow almost before sunrise….
In San Rafael, the snow began to fall at 1 am the morning of January 9th
…and continued until 8 o’clock. Over the hills that surround the town the depth was four inches. In San Anselmo, Kentfield, Larkspur and Corte Madera the snowfall was heavier, and in Mill Valley there was a six inch fall.
There was a futile attempt by the teachers to urge the pupils into the school buildings….. The damage to crops throughout the county is said to be small. In Ross and Larkspur a few small fruit trees are said to have been slightly harmed by the weight of the snow on the branches.
Originally published at https://annetkent.kontribune.com.
