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42 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, March 7, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 29, 2003 Crews worked to keep traffic flowing southbound on I-5 early Sunday night, but heavy snow later forced officials to close the freeway. Mail Tribune / Andrew Mariman Snow halts traffic on I-5 Heavy Sunday night storm strands travelers as state officials close the highway By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune A blizzard and a slew of accidents on the Siskiyou Summit brought holiday traffic to a standstill Sunday night on Interstate 5. "I-5 is closed all the way down to Shasta," said John Vial, Oregon Department of Transportation District Manager. All lanes of I-5 were officially closed by 9:30 p.m. Sunday as blizzard conditions were reported 100 miles into California. No estimates were made when the interstate would reopen. The Oregon State Police said Sunday night that so many vehicles had spun out of control that it was difficult to calculate how many accidents had occurred. During one period, as many as 10 different accidents were being cleared in each direction of the interstate. Advertisement No details on possible injuries were available, although most accidents were declared minor by the OSP. At one point, the situation became so chaotic that some motorists decided they couldn’t make it to the summit, turning around and heading back to Ashland in the emergency lanes. Motorists who made it over told of a three-hour ordeal to get through. One motorist said he saw two semi-trucks blocking both northbound lanes at one point. "That weather out there is really scary," said Spokane-resident Rosada Sarah Schwaab, whose family decided to spend the night at Callahan’s rather than risk getting stranded on the summit. "I would warn people not to come this way." Schwaab said her family’s situation could have been a lot worse. The family car was creeping along at two mph with the needle pointing to empty when the group got some help from employees at the lodge south of Ashland. "We were very lucky," said Schwaab, sipping a cup of hot chocolate. Rather than risk the storm’s wrath, Schwaab said she and her family rented the last available room at Callahan’s before pushing on to Sacramento today. "There were some other stranded motorists here, and we were telling them that their children would be welcome to stay with us if they needed a place to sleep," said Schwaab. Ron Berquist, owner of Callahan’s, said motorists had filled his parking lot looking for a place to relax from the frenzied conditions on the freeway. "It’s a real blizzard tonight," he said. "Everybody’s hugging the fire. We’ve got the guitar playing and people are just relaxing." Penny Meads, owner of State Line Service in Hilt, said there were many frantic motorists on her side of the Summit. "It’s a mess," she said. "We’ve got customers running around not knowing what to do." Meads said she was telling motorists heading to Oregon that they should turn around and find a hotel in Yreka. "The only trouble is it’s starting to get bad in Yreka," she said. "Snow’s been falling down there too." The National Weather Service predicted a foot or more of snow would fall in the higher elevations Sunday night. Some snow was even forecast for the valley floor late Sunday night or Monday morning. The low, expected to be 36 in Medford Sunday night, will hit a chilly 24 by Monday night. The high today is predicted at 40. A small break in the weather is forecast until the near the end of the week. Another storm is expected to hit on New Year’s Day. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Slippers Student Loans afsa teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress Advertisement s