Document text
53 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, January 28, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend January 9, 2005 Jacksonville and the west side of the Rogue Valley is where the snow stuck to roads Saturday morning. Highway 238 was shut down for a while around noon, and motorists throughout the region were dogged by bad weather most of the day. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven ‘A major-league mess’ Winter storm keeps police, road crews, motorists busy; expect more snow showers By JACK MORAN Mail Tribune While many Rogue Valley youngsters built snowmen and played in the fresh powder on Saturday, a major winter storm dumping a significant amount of snow in Southern Oregon continued to wreak havoc on roadways across the region. "A major-league mess" is how Oregon State Police Lt. Kurt Barthel characterized road conditions on Saturday, when snow blanketed the valley floor and contributed to dozens of minor traffic crashes and a few highway closures. "It’s creating a lot of problems on the freeway, especially," said Barthel. "It doesn’t look like we’re going to be out of this for a few days." A snow advisory issued late Saturday by the National Weather Service was scheduled to remain in effect through 5 this morning and could be extended until later today, meteorologist Dan Weygand said. A cold low-pressure system sitting off the Oregon Coast is expected to continue to usher snow showers into the region through tonight. Advertisement A total of 1.6 inches of snow fell at the Medford airport between 11 p.m. Friday and 9 p.m. Saturday, Weygand said. Higher totals were reported in cities including Eagle Point (6 inches), Jacksonville (6 inches) and Grants Pass (3 inches as of 6 a.m. Saturday). More than one foot of snow was reported in the foothills surrounding the Rogue Valley. "It’s definitely a little more exciting than usual," Weygand said. Exciting was not the word used by police, state highway officials and Pacific Power crews to describe the wintry weekend weather. "Today was brutal," said John Vial, district manager for the Oregon Department of Transportation. "We were stretched to the point of breaking. We simply do not have enough (personnel and equipment) to take care of a region-wide storm like this. "I have been here 7 or 8 years and I can’t remember a storm that has caused region-wide problems like this one has." Interstate 5 between Hugo and Canyonville was one major trouble spot. Southbound lanes of the freeway were temporarily closed late Saturday because of hazardous conditions. Blinding snow flurries and a series of vehicle spin-outs brought all traffic to a halt on I-5 between mileposts 66 and 98 at about 10:30 p.m. Friday. The 32-mile-long stretch of freeway was not re-opened until 15 hours later, at about 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Vial said motorists who were not prepared for winter driving and others who simply drove too fast for the wintry conditions contributed to the closure. "It really comes down to a partnership with motorists," Vial said. "Snowplows cannot counteract drivers who don’t come equipped, who don’t drive safely and who don’t use common sense." Highway 238 near Jacksonville Hill was closed intermittently Saturday because of heavy snowfall, as was Highway 227 between Trail and Tiller, Vial said. Chain requirements remained in place throughout the day on I-5 at Siskiyou Summit, but Vial said that for the most part, traffic flow remained slow but steady across the state border into California. Throughout Saturday, Pacific Power crews rushed around the Rogue Valley, trying to restore electricity to more than 10,000 customers who were without power. Most of the scattered outages throughout Jackson and Josephine counties were a result of snow weighing down tree limbs that crashed into power lines, officials said. The worst outage occurred in the Grants Pass area, where nearly 9,000 customers remained in the dark late Saturday after a main transmission line failed. Pacific Power spokesman John Toney said crews might not be able to make repairs until sometime this afternoon. "When you get this kind of weather, it’s tough for crews to get around to everybody," Toney said. Firefighter Mike Gavlik said the Rogue River Fire Department operated on generator power most of Saturday, when the office received "a massive amount of calls." Like other local fire districts throughout Jackson County, Rogue River crews responded to several traffic accidents, but because of a widespread power outage in the area, were met with additional challenges. Several elderly residents who spent the day without electricity requested assistance because they were very cold inside their homes. Firefighters responded with blankets and hot packs, and even cooked a few hot meals for seniors in need, Gavlik said. The weight of about one foot of snow caused a barn to collapse Saturday afternoon in the 3300 block of Little Applegate Road, south of Ruch, trapping a pair of horses. Applegate Fire District No. 9 Capt. Greg Gilbert said emergency crews were able to save the horses without either of the animals being injured. Closer to Medford, Andrea Mack, who lives in the Griffin Creek area, said that judging by Saturday’s weather, she plans on staying home for a couple of days. "Luckily, we have an extra (refrigerator and freezer) in the garage stocked, as my car will not make it back up the hill," Mack wrote in an e-mail. "It’s very dicey up here, and we will probably be stuck until the beginning of the week." Mack said she observed a few neighbors on Mel Lowe Lane parking their vehicles along the road before trudging through the snow to reach their front doors. On city streets, Medford police Sgt. Phil Eastman said officers responded to a handful of minor traffic accidents on Saturday. In Ashland, police Sgt. Kirk Cromwell said no major traffic incidents occurred, although a few motorists were "slipping and sliding" while making their way through town. Jackson County sheriff’s deputies kept busy on traffic detail, handling several calls of minor crashes and vehicles that became stuck in the snow alongside roadways. Sheriff’s Capt. Joe Puckett said wrecks were reported in areas including Highway 66 east of Ashland and along Old Stage Road near Medford. While road travel remains treacherous, Saturday’s relatively heavy snowfall apparently did not have much of an effect on flights headed in and out of the Medford airport. An airport tower employee said flights appeared to be "taking off when they want to take off, and coming in when they want to come in." Puckett said workers on snow plows were operating non-stop to keep airport runways clear of all snow. Reach reporter Jack Moran at 776-4459, or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers