The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Snow, accidents shut down Northern California freeway
SAN FRANCISCO >> Heavy snowfall, multiple spinouts and a jack-knifed big rig forced the closing of a major Northern California freeway in the Sierra Nevada on Jan. 16.
The California Highway Patrol said multiple spinouts prompted the closure of westbound Interstate 80 at the Nevada border.
The CHP said a tractor trailer jack-knifed on eastbound 80, prompting the closure about 85 miles east of Sacramento.
The heavy snowfall in the Sierra Nevada was an indication that one of the biggest winter storms of the season has arrived.
More than 4 inches of rain has fallen in the last 24 hours in the higher elevations of nearby Yuba County.
Meanwhile, Pacific Gas & Electric reported 7,032 customers were without power, most of them north of San Francisco.
A mudslide on a major Northern California freeway just north of the Golden Gate Bridge snarled the morning commute as road conditions throughout the state deteriorated amid heavy rain and snow.
The California Highway Patrol said the 7 a.m. slide Wednesday closed southbound Highway 101 for about an hour.
The route across the bridge is the only direct access motorists north of the city have to San Francisco.
Traffic remained heavy after the slide was cleared. The CHP warned of dangerous road conditions while the heavy winds and rain persist.
Three people, including an infant, were killed Tuesday night in a freeway spinout accident in Placerville, California, about 130 miles east of San Francisco.
The CHP says a 51-yearold man driving a Volvo west on Highway 50 lost control of the car and spun into the eastbound lane, striking a Subaru traveling about 65 mph. The Volvo’s driver, a 1-year-old girl and an adult passenger were killed. The Subaru’s driver suffered major injuries and was flown to a nearby hospital.
The CHP says speed and rain-slickened roads appear to have played factors in the accident. The victims’ names weren’t released.
Numerous vehicles have collided in a foggy mountain pass as a storm system passes through Southern California.
The San Bernardino County Fire Department says 19 vehicles collided Wednesday morning on the southbound side of Interstate 15 in Cajon Pass, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles.
The department says 35 people suffered minor to moderate injuries but most are declining to be taken to hospitals.
The department says weather was a contributing factor in the collision, which has closed the southbound side of the interstate. It is a major route between Southern California and Las Vegas.
Earlier in the day, light rain fell in some parts of Northern California ahead of the storm that expected to bring heavy rain and strong winds that could unleash mudslides to the site of the deadliest wildfire in state history.
Forecasters said Wednesday there could be water level rises on small rivers and creeks and debris flows in burn scars areas, including Butte County.
That’s where a November wildfire killed 86 people and destroyed nearly 15,000 homes.
An evacuation warning is in place for the community of Pulga, near the town of Paradise which was decimated by the blaze.
The storm was expected to arrive later Wednesday and continue into Thursday.
A blizzard warning for much of the Sierra Nevada and Lake Tahoe takes effect Wednesday night, with meteorologists predicting as much of 5 feet of snow in upper elevations and wind gusts of up to 100 mph on ridgetops.