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67 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, September 16, 2004 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 How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People 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 August 23, 2004 Cars, such as this one reflected in a puddle, meandered around water on the roads Sunday while the rain was cause for some accidents. Mail Tribune / Andrew Mariman Downpour slickens roadways By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune An unseasonably cool storm led to 16 accidents on a 160-mile rain-slickened stretch of Interstate 5 Sunday, and lightning triggered a four-hour power outage in Gold Hill and parts of Central Point. None of the accidents resulted in life-threatening injuries, said Ken Kennedy, dispatch supervisor with the Oregon State Police. The accidents occurred from milepost 3 to milepost 163, but 13 were located in Jackson and Josephine counties, he said. "A real downpour at the beginning of the season makes things really slick on the roadways," Kennedy said. A van rolled over at Siskiyou Summit, spawning three or four rear-end collisions, he said. Advertisement Another rollover accident occurred on Highway 227, but Kennedy said there were no injuries. Bekki Witt, a spokesperson for Pacific Power, said electricity was disrupted at 10:46 a.m. Sunday and was restored by 2:46 p.m., affecting 612 customers. "We had a lightning strike hit one of our poles and knocked all the equipment off the pole," she said. The lightning struck along Gold Ray Road north of Central Point. "Definitely, the weather keeps us on our toes," said Kennedy. Murray Orr, hydrometeorological technician with the National Weather Service, said the cool storm system passing over the Rogue Valley is a little unusual for August. "We’re having an early fall situation," he said. At the official Medford airport rain gauge, .28 inches of precipitation fell as of Sunday evening, still lower than the normal month to date of .32 inches that comes from thunderstorms. Showers should continue through the week, along with lower-than-normal temperatures. "We won’t see any clearing until late Thursday, early Friday," Orr said. On Sunday, the high temperature of 73degrees was actually registered at midnight, but during the day the official temperature gauge at Medford airport only hit the mid-60s. Even at 73 degrees, it was just eight degrees hotter than the lowest high reading ever recorded for the day of 65 degrees. The normal high is 90. While temperatures should get back into the 80s by the weekend, Orr said the 100-degree days that recently roasted the valley could be behind us. "It’s pretty much gone, but it’s not impossible," he said. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, 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 © 1997-2004 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