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After 4 years, snow A stuck car gets a push through the slippery intersection of Crater Lake Avenue and McAndrews Road on Saturday. Slowed by the snow, traffic piles up on McAndrews Road on Saturday near Providence Medford Medical Center. Snow Days in Medford Saturday's snowfall of 2 inches in Medford is the highest snow accumulation here in almost a decade. However, the amount is far less than Medford's record snowfall of 11 inches logged Dec. 12, 1919. Here are the days of measurable snowfall in Medford over the past decade, as registered by the National Weather Service: Nov. 26, 1994: 1 inch. Feb. 2, 1993: 1 inch. Jan. 5, 1993: 1 inch. Dec. 29, 1992: 1 inch. Dec. 22, 1990: 1 inch. Feb. 15, 1990: 1 inch. Feb. 6, 1990: 1 inch. Jan. 30, 1990: 1 inch. March 2, 1989: 1 inch. Feb. 2, 1989: 1 inch. Jan. 8, 1989: 2 inches. Dec. 30, 1988: 1 inch. Jan. 31, 1988: 4 inches. Dec. 24, 1988: 1 inch. Jan 31, 1988 4 inches. Saturday saw lots of fender-benders but no huge trouble; more flakes could fall today By JULIE SWENSEN of the Mail Tribune It wasn't a whole lot, but it's been nearly a decade since this much snow fell in Medford. The two inches of snow that fell Saturday afternoon in Medford was the first to accumulate in town since November 1994, and the most since Jan. 8, 1989. But the snowfall fell far short of Medford's official record of 11 inches on Dec. 12, 1919, according to the National Weather Service office in Medford. More snow is expected to fall this morning, said Roger Gerig, a Weather Service meteorologist in Medford. But temperatures weren't expected warm beyond 39 degrees today, meaning the snow "conceivably" could stick around until Monday, Gerig said. Forecasters expect snow levels to climb to 4,000 feet on Monday, meaning new snow will be relegated to the mountains, Gerig said. Although Saturday's flurry was far short of a record, the abrupt storm caught motorists and police by surprise. "I've worked here almost 20 years, and I've never seen a snowstorm come on and hit as fast as this one did, and create as many problems as it did in such a short period of time," said Sgt. Steve Johnson of the Medford Police Department. "There were accidents we couldn't even respond to," he said. In three hours starting about 2:15 p.m., dispatchers took calls for 13 accidents in Medford, but Johnson thought the number of unreported accidents probably neared 100. Dispatchers received another 30 to 35 calls for accidents outside the city limits; those were transferred to other police agencies. But no fatal major-injury accidents were reported in southwest Oregon. By 8:30 p.m., Oregon State Police dispatchers had taken about 75 reports of accidents in southwest Oregon from the time the snow started falling Saturday afternoon. Bob Fuller, dispatch supervisor, said the accidents were concentrated on Sexton Mountain and the Siskiyou Pass. Southbound motorists on Interstate 5 were not permitted to cross Sexton Pass without chains, Fuller said. A Red Cross shelter was set up at an ambulance building in Glendale for stranded motorists. Medford police contracted with a local tire dealership to put chains on police cruisers, Johnson said. One Medford patrol car couldn't get over the icy McAndrews Road overpass, which was later shut down. It was still closed Saturday night. At a Les Schwab store in Medford, assistant manager Brad Albertson was called in on his day off along with other employees to manage the onslaught of customers wanting studded tires and chains. Customers were waiting about an hour and a half, and Albertson described business as "crazy." He said Les Schwab, which is closed on Sundays, would probably make an exception and be open for a while today. Some people helped push stranded motorists' cars or direct them away from trouble spots. On Sunrise Avenue in Medford, Rick Johnson, 28, got out of his vehicle at the base of the hill and directed people to turn around. "You'll never make it up in this. It's too slick," Johnson said, encouraging a motorist to turn around in a nearby driveway. "I don't think they're ready for it," Johnson said as a two-wheel-drive sportscar tried to make it to the top. The snow also caused some power lines to go down. Anita Marks, a spokeswoman for Pacific Power, said there were spot outages and lines down, and that crews were "all over the place" in Medford, Grants Pass and Roseburg. More detailed information was not available because dispatchers were still busy taking calls. In the hilly neighborhoods of Ashland, where stranded cars abounded, residents who unsuccessfully tried to drive uphill to their homes parked farther down and walked. Ashland residents Pat Acklin and her husband, Ken Kigel, were busy shoveling snow off their driveway on Scenic Drive so they could park their cars there, avoiding the possibility of motorists sliding and hitting their cars on the side of the street. "I think it's nice, because it makes society slow down," Kigel said of the snow. Middle-schoolers Connor Sexton, 12, and Micah Canal, 13, went sledding near Briscoe Elementary School. "I didn't sled at all last year. It's nice to get out," Sexton said. Canal was hoping it would continue to snow so the schools would be closed. A winter storm warning was issued Saturday for the Southern Oregon Cascades and Siskiyous. Up to a foot of snow was expected overnight Saturday and early today, when it'll turn into scattered snow showers, said William Ludwig of the National Weather Service. An incident command system, which is set up during disasters and was last set up during flooding last year, was established Saturday in Medford's Lausmann Annex. Johnson said officials were monitoring the weather. "In case things get bad, we're prepared for it," Johnson said. For more weather and road information, contact the Mail Tribune's Web site at www.mailtribune.com . Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA