The Pasadena Snow of 1949

Wind your clocks back to exactly 70 years ago in January of 1949. Something bizarre happened that year, as a solid foot of snow fell on the Pasadena area for the first time in 99 years. It’s hard to imagine an area very close to where the Grand National Roadster Show just happened, buried in snow and ice. Below you’ll find two clips, first a news reel about the Southern California area dealing with the snow for the first time ever, and the second film is the good one: 8mm home movie footage from right after the storm, with a brand new Shoebox Ford Club Coupe and a very slick Three Window hot rod doing donuts in the white stuff. The cars are only shown for the first 20 seconds, so keep an eye out.

Maybe this snow is all fresh on my mind because I’m heading into the icy heart of the “Polar Vortex’ tomorrow, flying into Minneapolis for my Uncle’s funeral. I think it warms up to -6 when I arrive (up from -30, so I’m not complaining)… Everybody stay safe out there!