Snow likely to close Grapevine
Thursday will get the storm’s brunt. Drivers can use the 101 or 14 freeways as a detour.
A fresh storm rolling into Southern California brought dangerous driving conditions to the Grapevine section of the 5 Freeway on Wednesday as Thanksgiving travel was picking up.
By 6 a.m., flurries had begun to fall along the roadway. Light snow continued in the area throughout the day, but forecasters say Thursday’s conditions will deteriorate, with snow levels dropping to 2,000 feet.
The storm is expected to dump up to 6 inches of snow along the Grapevine, with the bulk of it falling Thursday, said Andrew Rorke, a senior forecaster with the
National Weather Service in Oxnard.
Heavy snow will probably close the mountain pass. So what’s the best way to avoid the Grapevine when weather interferes?
The California Department of Transportation suggests taking the 101 Freeway as an alternative to the 5.
For this storm, the 101 is generally the best of terrible alternatives when the Grapevine is closed by snow.
Because the 101 in California never gets too high in elevation, it generally doesn’t get the amount of snow that could force a road closure.
Travelers driving between the Bay Area and Los Angeles can take the 101 the entire way and avoid the 5 completely.
The other possible detour, through the Mojave Desert, may not work for this storm because the weather service is forecasting snow falling in the Antelope Valley foothills, with a chance “there could even be accumulating snow on the valley floor.”
This detour involves the 14 Freeway through the Mojave Desert and the Soledad Pass, at an elevation of 3,255 feet, and the 58 Freeway through the Tehachapi Pass, at an elevation of 3,793 feet. Forecasters have warned both routes may see snow.
Up to 3 to 6 inches of snow is expected on the 5 through the Tejon Pass.
With snow levels falling to 2,000 feet, well below the lowest point of the 5 as it winds through the Tejon Pass at an elevation of 4,144 feet, meteorologists warn that snowcovered roads will lead to extremely difficult or nearly impossible travel.
The Grapevine is the name given to a section of one of California’s most important sections of the 5 Freeway, traversing the Transverse Ranges to connect the San Joaquin Valley to Los Angeles County.
Though many motorists believe the name was inspired by the road’s many curves as it winds through the Tehachapi Mountains, it’s actually traced to the abundance of wild grapes that grew in the area.
That caused a Spanish army lieutenant two centuries ago to name a canyon in the area Cañada de las Uvas, or Grapevine Canyon, according to a Los Angeles Times story in 1993.