Snow arrives on the Santa Cruz Mountains

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV)- The Santa Cruz Mountains felt like a winter wonderland on Thursday.

Local agencies will be prepared for snow coming down throughout the weekend. Kevin Drabinski who is the Caltrans public information officer said that they are prepared for this unusual event.

"We have the regular equipment that we have for our maintenace crews," Drabinski said. "They can easily handle anything like snow."

Caltrans crews will have trucks available to help plow snow on Highway 17 and other locations that will be impacted by this snow event.

"We will continue to be positioned on the roadway and work closely with our county public partners as well as California Highway Patrol," Drabinski said. "We want to make sure that we can do what's best to keep the roads open to the public."

Roger who lives in Scotts Valley says the weather made it tough for him to leave his house.

"It could be tough getting out in the morning," Roger said. "We have appointments in the morning."

In California, all vehicles must have working windshield wipers that are capable of removing snow. You also have to turn on your headlights to improve visibility.

According to the National Weather Service, the storm will affect California through Saturday.