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New year, new snow photo by Jim Craven Makayla Hickman, 5, wearing a coat a size or three too big, tries to catch snowflakes on her tongue Saturday on the sidewalk in front of her East Main Street house in Medford. Storm means hassle for drivers, heaven for skiers By Jessica Smith of the Mail Tribune The fog that shrouded the Rogue Valley this New Year weekend also brought the region its first snowfall of the 21st century. Snow began falling on the valley floor about 12:30 p.m. Saturday, leaving a delicate white dusting in most of north Jackson County and dumping about an inch of powder in the hills of Ashland. While forecasters don't expect more snow on the valley floor anytime soon, Saturday's storm was good news for Mount Ashland, which has seen little new snow in recent weeks. Bruce Meeks, Ski Ashland mountain manager, said between 3 and 4 inches of powder fell on the mountain Saturday afternoon. As of 11:30 a.m. Saturday, the snow pack was 18 inches at the base and 30 inches at the top of the mountain. But things are looking up for the ski area, Meeks said. He added that ski officials hope to begin offering night skiing by Thursday. "It looks like we're going to get more snow," Meeks said. "The storm door looks like it's open again, and hopefully we'll see a few more roll through here." According to the National Weather Service, the fog that blanketed the Rogue Valley Friday kept temperatures low and created a pool of cool air Saturday morning. By the time the storm system moved through the area, those low temperatures combined with precipitation to give the region its first snowfall of the year. The brief storm -- snow fell for only about an hour in most places -- caused traffic problems on Interstate 5 at the Siskiyou Summit and on area roads. Ashland Fire & Rescue responded to several accidents at the summit, and a semi-truck jackknifed on I-5 at milepost 21, near Talent, although no on was injured there. A driver who slid down Strawberry Lane in Ashland took out a power pole, leaving the neighborhood without electricity for a time. Drivers traveling through the I-5 summit at 1 p.m. were required to carry chains, thanks to the quick accumulation of snow there. The chain requirements were lifted by 3 p.m., but Ashland Fire & Rescue officials said black ice was beginning to create problems by 5 p.m. Road crews should be able to breathe easy the next few days, according to the weather service. "What happened (Saturday) morning was very unique," said Frederic Bunnag, a meteorologist in the Medford weather service office. He said it's unlikely the valley will see more snow in the coming days. "We don't have a major system coming through, it's just a series of fast-moving ones." Although rain is predicted this afternoon and Tuesday, Bunnag said fog is not anticipated and daytime temperatures will remain somewhere in the 40s, with snow levels moving up to 3,000 or 4,000 feet. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA