The north coast of San Luis Obispo County woke up to some wintry weather on Wednesday.
Alfredo Cardenas shared video showing snow falling at Hearst Castle.
The winter weather came as a surprise to both employees and tourists visiting the historic landmark.
Hayley and Katherine Thompson are visiting the Central coast from Florida and saw snow for the first time on Wednesday.
“It was my first time seeing snow and it was very exciting—even though it was just a little bit,” said Hayley. “We’re from Miami so it does not snow at all there.”
The sisters now have quite the story to tell about their trip to California.
“I was really excited because all my friends have went to Colorado and we really wanted to see snow,” adds Katherine.
From snow at Hearst Castle to hail at the beach-- there was plenty of interesting weather in the San Simeon area on Wednesday.
Employees at Hearst Ranch Winery shared video of a hailstorm that swept through the area.
“We had hail that was the size of ping pong balls. I’d never seen anything like that close to the coast,” said Cambria Resident Keith Stowers.
The sudden downpour sent some running for cover but not everyone wanted to be inside.
“It was pretty crazy we had a bunch of kids here that all ran outside—40-mile-per-hour winds and hail coming down. They were all laughing and screaming,” said Carson Rolph who is the manager of the winery’s San Simeon tasting room.
“It was fun to see. It kind of blanketed the ground it almost looked like it snowed here too.”
Snow and hail were a welcome sight, but residents say they are keeping a close eye on the wind, which could bring more downed trees and damage in places like Cambria.
“I’m afraid these trees are gonna start to fall and that would be detrimental to all of us,” said Stowers.
