I was thrilled to find packets of negatives taken by several photographers, who captured the snow falling — and then San Francisco waking up to the transformation. A woman captures a photo of snow in San Francisco in 1976. The Bay Area native, a former Chronicle paperboy, has worked at The Chronicle since 2000. And he captured a memorably anatomically correct female snowperson, made by a little girl who beamed with pride at her creation. First question: What years did it snow in San Francisco? Send photos, video and your stories to phartlaub@sfchronicle.com. “What happened is so complicated I’m not even sure I understand all the details myself,” Clyde Holmes of the National Weather Service told The Chronicle the next day. Halloween is not canceled! Do you have photos or video of the 1976 San Francisco snow? Snow had fallen on San Francisco in 1951 and in even larger amounts in 1962. He covers Bay Area culture, hosts the Total SF podcast and writes the archive-based Our San Francisco local history column. But my favorite photos — and the ones featured here, with more on www.sfchronicle.com/oursf — were taken by Clem Albers. Did we all dream this? Total SF resurrects costume contest, ‘With a love that is filial’: It’s 2020 and the battle for S.F.’s soul has just begun, The orange skies have faded. San Francisco snow falls in 1976. A six-paragraph Chronicle weather story, which reached city doorsteps that were already covered in powder, suggested that snow might fall “on some Bay Area mountain areas.”. ”The last time San Francisco was hit with far more impressive snow was exactly 43 years ago — Feb. 5, 1976 — when 5 inches of snow fell on San Francisco’s Twin Peaks and even an inch fell downtown, according to meteorologist Jan Null. Even weather experts were shocked by the sudden 1976 storm, caused when a huge icy air pocket destined for Nevada pivoted toward the Bay Area, dropping a reported 5 inches on San Francisco’s highest peaks. Peter Hartlaub is The San Francisco Chronicle’s culture critic and co-host of Total SF. Snowfall has historically been a once-every-generation event in San Francisco, but in 1976, it was reasonable to believe another snowstorm would happen again in a few years. Children play with snowballs using a car as cover during a rare San Francisco snowfall in 1976. And during an otherwise unremarkable morning on Feb. 5, 1976, snow fell in San Francisco. Children play with snowballs during a rare San Francisco snowfall in 1976. It snowed one to two inches on San Francisco streets in Feb. 5, 1976, dusting the Marin Headlands, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. We haven’t seen significant snow since 1976, and with every year these Chronicle photos become a little more distant. The Thinker is dusted with snow in front of the Palace of the Legion of Honor during a rare San Francisco snowfall in 1976. Snowfall in San Francisco Between 1976 and 2011, most residents of San Francisco, especially those younger than 35 years of age, had never seen snow in the city. SAN FRANCISCO Snowfall * Chronological Summary # Year Day Amount Remarks 1856 Dec 25 2.5" 1868 Jan 12 2.0" 1882 Dec 31 3.5" Snow fell from 11:30am to 4:20pm. Before that, on Feb. 5, 1887, 7 inches of snow fell on Twin Peaks One of my very first trips to The Chronicle’s archive was a search for our 1976 Bay Area snow photos, hoping to validate fuzzy kindergarten memories that it snowed on my sea level home in Burlingame. Like a dream, snow fell on San Francisco in 1976. Thanks to Albers and his colleagues, at least a few images will always remain crystal clear. The veteran Chronicle photographer is known for his more serious work, photographing Japanese internment camps on the West Coast in the 1940s and later capturing the aftermath of the Harvey Milk and George Moscone assassinations at City Hall. A snowman has a beautiful view of the city during a rare San Francisco snowfall in 1976. Instead of a handful of photos from around the Bay Area from several historic snow dates (San Francisco also saw significant powder in 1882, 1887, 1951 and 1962 1952 and 1961), we can give a … He captured the San Francisco snowball fight of the century, breaking out on the way to school. Did I dream this? Art Frisch shot a much-reprinted aerial photo of the Golden Gate Bridge and Marin Headlands covered in snow, which landed above the Chronicle banner on the front page. Peter Hartlaub is The San Francisco Chronicle pop culture critic. Children build an anatomically correct snowwoman during a rare San Francisco snowfall in 1976. Singer Johnny Mathis was once a city high school high jump champion. At higher elevations in the western portion of the city, the snow was 7 inches deep. Evelyn Luwig took her 3-year old son, Paul out on a grassy hill to play in the snow, but it was too strange to suit him and his tears joined the falling snow. He captured longtime residents taking photos of their own city like tourists. Depths from 1 to 2". Adding to the surreal magic of the day, Bay Area residents were given almost no warning. Among the photographers who took snow photos was Joe Rosenthal of “Raising the Flag at Iwo Jima” fame. The most recent snowfall occurred in 1976, when approximately 5 inches of snow fell on the community of Twin Peaks. San Francisco's all-time record snowfall occurred on February 5, 1887, when 3.7 inches were measured at the downtown weather bureau location in the financial district.