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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 2, 2005 An Oregon Department of Transportation worker who declined to be identified tries to remove debris from a storm drain Thursday. Clogged drains and overloaded culverts led to localized flooding like this storm-caused inundation on South Pacific Highway. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Rain, snow and more storms on the way means ... HERE COMES WINTER By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune A series of early winter storms are expected to keep Jackson and Josephine counties looking a lot like a Currier and Ives Christmas scene through the weekend. The snow level was predicted to drop to the valley floor in many areas overnight, then rise to around 2,000 feet today, according to the forecast. "The storms are lined up pretty good right now — we got three (or) four additional disturbances coming in the next couple of days," said Roger Gerig, weather service specialist at the National Weather Service office at the Medford airport. The next storm is expected tonight, followed by another on Saturday during the day and yet another Saturday night, he said. Hailing from the Gulf of Alaska, the storms aren’t expected to pack the punch of the wet tempest that dumped 2.37 inches of precipitation on Medford in the 24-hour period ending at 4 p.m. Thursday, including 1½ inches of sloppy, wet snow. Advertisement That storm piled snow in the higher mountains while causing flooding in Eagle Point, Talent and along the west fork of the Illinois River in the Illinois Valley, the weather service reported. Three homes were soaked by high water in Eagle Point on Thursday when irrigation ditches overflowed, said Eagle Point Police Chief David Strand. Little Butte Creek also surged during the storm, he said. The Eagle Point flooding was largely at two intersections along Linn Road where the road links up with Comice and Bosc roads, Strand said. "The water was deep enough that there were cars on Comice that had water in them," Strand said. In Talent, Wagner Creek surged violently under the Talent Avenue bridge, rising over its embankment in some areas. Eunice Rosenfeld, who has lived next to the creek for 18 years, said it had not swelled so dramatically since the 1997 flood. The water flooded her small yard overlooking the creek at Talent Avenue, rising halfway up the picket fence. "I think next year I’ll plant rice there," she said. Many culverts in Jackson County couldn’t handle the water volume and overflowed, prompting worried calls to the county public works department and local fire departments, said Jim Douglas, a county public works maintenance manager. Firefighters from Jackson County Fire District 5 piled sandbags at a home on the 8000 block of Wagner Creek Road, where an overflowing culvert spurted water in the driveway, said Darin Welburn, division chief. The homeowners were not home at the time, but four neighbors joined forces to dig a ditch to divert the water, he said. Anderson Creek had nearly crested South Pacific Highway when the rains diminished, he said. "Anytime Anderson Creek starts to go over the highway, you know you’re getting into a major high-water event." The weather service issued an urban and small stream flood warning for the region that ended 8 p.m. Thursday. Although the storm that swept through Wednesday night and early Thursday morning wasn’t as cold as the coming storms are expected to be, it was cold enough to cause headaches for many highway travelers Wednesday night. Interstate 5 was closed for four hours between Hugo, just north of Grants Pass, and Canyonville from about 9 p.m. Wednesday until early this morning, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation. Trucks jackknifed on several summits, including the Sexton Summit north of Grants Pass, causing traffic jams, ODOT reported. "The heavy, wet snow caught drivers unprepared for the conditions and many did not have chains or traction tires to proceed across the pass," said ODOT District Manager John Vial. However, with the exception of halting traffic temporarily to clear the pass of disabled motor vehicles, the interstate at the Siskiyou Summit south of Ashland remained open, he said. At roughly 5,000 feet elevation, the Siskiyou Summit is the highest pass on I-5 between Canada and Mexico. Atop Mount Ashland, 15 inches of snow fell at the Ski Ashland lodge in the 24-hour period ending mid-morning Thursday, bringing the total base to 28 inches. The community-owned ski area is expected to open by Dec. 9 for the season. Up at Crater Lake National Park headquarters, 15 inches of snow fell during the 24 hours ending at 7 a.m. Thursday, according to park spokeswoman. The total base is now 54 inches, nearly 2 feet above the 32-inch average for Dec. 1, she said. The storms now blowing in may not drop as much moisture but they will definitely be colder, said meteorologist Ken Sargeant with the weather service. That means snow for much of the area, he predicted. However, an early December snowfall doesn’t mean the valley floor will receive a white Christmas, he said. "If I were a betting man, I’d say don’t bet on it," Sargeant said. For road conditions, visit tripcheck.com on the Web. For information on Southwest Oregon road projects and related travel information, visit Oregon.gov/odot on the Web. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at HERE COMES WINTER ">[email protected] . Reporter Paris Achen contributed to this report. 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. 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