Baby 'Winter' born amid massive SoCal snowstorm

Baby born during SoCal mountain snowstorm

Baby Winter was born to the Wade family in the middle of the massive storm that battered the San Bernardino Mountains.

SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Calif. - Amid the destruction and the desperation in the aftermath of what's been called a once-in-a-generation storm in the San Bernardino Mountains, one family found a glimmer of hope, as against all odds they welcomed a new baby girl into the world.

It all happened on Feb. 23. Father Brady Wade said when he got back to his home in Lake Arrowhead, "my wife says she's having contractions. There's about three feet, four feet of snow on the ground at this point." Wade said the family's hospital was in Fontana, more than 30 miles away.

"A friend of mine found out about this and ran to the house in the snow, and we were in the blizzard conditions at this point, and [he] helped me load everybody up, finalize and head on out," Wade said. "My wife was in labor when we were still about 50 minutes from the hospital."

Despite icy conditions and treacherous roads Brady Wade and wife Crystal Wade made it to the hospital, where Crystal gave birth to their daughter, appropriately named Winter.

"The doctor told her that if her water would have broken, we would have given birth on Rim of the World Highway," Wade said.

But the Wades' story doesn't end with baby Winter's birth. The family then had to get back up the hill to their other child — a 4-year-old son. The boy was staying with a neighbor, and Wade said the family was running out of food. But again, through difficult conditions, the family made it back — or nearly there.

"We got home, the roads were maintained until about six blocks from our house," Wade said. "We had obviously a 2-day-old with us and we couldn't get in. So we ended up beachng the [truck] and walked in with my wife holding the newborn in her jacket through about four-and-a-half-foot snow drifts."

Now, baby Winter and family are home, and they're grateful.

"This is biblical, basically," Wade said. "It's unmanageable at this point. People are going to be in very serious trouble. We're very lucky to be safe."