Southern California’s unpredictable spring weather struck again on the evening of April 13, 2026, when a fast-moving storm dropped hail, graupel, and snow across the San Bernardino Mountains with little warning. What had seemed like a passing weather event earlier in the day came roaring back with a vengeance around 7:30 p.m., catching drivers completely off guard. Roads that were wet but manageable turned into chaos within minutes as frozen precipitation piled up on the pavement. By the time the storm wrapped up about an hour later, multiple vehicles had crashed or become stuck, and at least one SUV had ended up on its roof.
The most dramatic moment of the evening came in the Running Springs area, where a Toyota 4Runner overturned as conditions rapidly deteriorated. California Highway Patrol officers who responded to the scene did not call for a heavy-duty recovery vehicle. Instead, they improvised in the most “let’s just get this done” way possible: they attached a tow strap to a patrol vehicle and used it to physically flip the SUV back onto its wheels. It worked. The 4Runner, while visibly worse for wear, was drivable, and the driver walked away without any injuries. Not a bad outcome for what could have been a much worse night.
Beyond the flipped SUV, the storm created widespread problems up and down the mountain roads. Multiple vehicles lost control or became stuck as the hail and snow rapidly accumulated. Chain control restrictions were put in place as crews scrambled to manage the hazardous stretches of roadway, adding to delays and confusion for anyone trying to navigate the area during the storm. The intensity of it all was especially jarring because the weather had appeared to ease up earlier in the evening, lulling people into thinking the worst was over.
Mountain weather, as anyone who frequents the San Bernardinos knows, rarely asks permission before changing plans. The storm transitioned from hail and graupel into full snow before conditions gradually improved as temperatures allowed the snow to start melting. Within an hour, things were calmer, but the damage, the stress, and a few seriously rattled drivers were left in its wake.
What Actually Fell from the Sky: Hail vs. Graupel vs. Snow
Not everyone is familiar with graupel, and it deserves a quick explanation because it shows up in these mountain storms more often than people realize. Graupel forms when supercooled water droplets freeze around snowflakes, creating soft, round pellets that look like tiny styrofoam balls. Unlike hail, which forms in thunderstorms through repeated updraft cycling, graupel falls more like snow and tends to accumulate quickly. When you mix graupel with actual hail and then transition into snow, as happened on April 13, you get a road surface that changes texture and grip almost by the minute.
For drivers, that unpredictability is a serious problem because what worked traction-wise five minutes ago may not work at all after the next round of precipitation.
How the CHP Rescue Actually Worked
The image of a police cruiser being used as a makeshift recovery vehicle to right an overturned SUV is one of those moments that sounds improvised because it was. Tow straps are strong, flexible straps rated to handle significant weight and force, and attaching one between a patrol vehicle and a rolled car is a technique that can work in the right circumstances. The key factors are the angle of the pull, the surface conditions, and whether the vehicle being righted is going to cause additional damage or hazards when it lands back on its wheels.
In this case, it all came together, and the 4Runner drove away from the scene. Not every roadside recovery goes that smoothly, which makes this one a bit of a feel-good footnote in an otherwise dicey night.
What This Incident Can Teach Drivers About Mountain Roads in Spring
Spring storms in the Southern California mountains are genuinely underestimated. People associate snow chains and icy roads with winter, pack them away in March, and then get caught completely unprepared in April when another cold system rolls through. A few important takeaways from the April 13 event stand out. First, weather that appears to be clearing can reverse course fast, especially at elevation, so do not assume an improving forecast means conditions are safe.
Second, chain controls exist for a reason, and waiting until you are already sliding is the wrong time to wish you had them. Third, graupel and hail create surface conditions that are different from snow and can catch even experienced drivers off guard because they behave more like ball bearings than packed powder.
Finally, if you are planning to drive mountain roads in spring, checking road conditions through the California Department of Transportation before heading out is a step that takes two minutes and can save hours of trouble or worse.
The Broader Pattern of Spring Mountain Weather in Southern California
The San Bernardino Mountains, which include popular destinations like Big Bear Lake and Running Springs, sit at elevations ranging from around 5,000 to over 11,000 feet. At those heights, storms that produce rain in the valleys can easily produce snow, hail, or graupel, even well into spring. The region sees a pattern of late-season storms driven by cold upper-level systems that interact with Pacific moisture, and these can develop or intensify with less warning than the larger winter storm systems that get more media attention.
April storms in particular tend to be fast-moving and intense precisely because the atmosphere is transitioning between seasons. For residents and visitors alike, building some flexibility into mountain travel plans and keeping an eye on forecasts from the National Weather Service’s San Diego or Los Angeles offices can make a meaningful difference in staying safe.