El Nino-driven storms mean fresh snow for Big Bear Lake area

BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. (KABC) -- Skiers and snowboarders flocked to the Big Bear Lake area Thursday after an El Nino-driven storm dropped a foot of snow on ski resorts in San Bernardino County overnight.

Resort officials said the area has received at least 30 inches of snow in the past 48 hours.

"You've got to get up here. This is the El Nino. This is what we've been waiting for, and it has been worth the six, seven-year wait now," James Clark of Anaheim Hills said.

PHOTOS: Best images from SoCal El Nino storms

Meanwhile, thousands of people were without power in the Big Bear Lake area Thursday morning due to the winter storm.

As of 10 a.m., Bear Valley Electric Service said approximately 5,900 customers on the south side of Big Bear Lake were still experiencing outages. An estimated time of restoration was not immediately available.

Crews restored power to approximately 4,100 customers on the eastern side of Bear Valley but approximately 2,600 customers in the Moonridge area are still in the dark.

Snow Summit is also without power, and is running their lifts off the backup generators usually used to make the snow.

The utility urged the public to report outages and downed power lines by calling (800) 808-2837. For more information, visit www.bves.com.

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