Document text
Storms may keep belting us photo by bob pennell Nataliya Rybakova, en route from Seattle to San Francisco, found shelter under her jacket Friday as she and hundreds of other motorists waited for the I-5 pass to reopen. Snow snarls pass; flood watch on lower Rogue By Julie Swensen Motorist John Beatty had planned to get to Sacramento by 4:30 p.m. Friday. But as of 3 p.m., he was stranded on Interstate 5 near Ashland, one of scores of motorists waiting their turns to head over the snowpacked Siskiyou Pass. On a trek from Portland to Los Angeles, Beatty had hoped to get to Sacramento before dark, but "that won't happen now," he said. The backup was caused by motorists slipping and sliding on a five-mile stretch on the pass and the resulting wait to clear their vehicles off the road. And judging by weather forecasts, the traffic tie-ups may continue through today. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning Friday for heavy snows for the Southern Oregon Cascades and Siskiyous to last through this morning. The area should be mostly cloudy with numerous snow showers today, and afternoon pass temperatures should be near 30 degrees, with a west wind 10 to 20 mph. Tonight, it should be mostly cloudy with a slight chance of snow showers, with pass temperatures dropping to 15 to 20. Snow levels were to drop near 1,500 feet this morning in Southern Oregon and near 2,000 feet in Northern California, and snow will be heavy at times, the weather service predicted. The Mount Ashland ski area reported heavy snows continuing at mid-afternoon Friday, with a base of 121 inches on top of the mountain. There were no reports of serious flooding in the Rogue Valley by 9 p.m. Friday, but a flood watch was issued for the lower Rogue River, between Agness and Gold Beach. The river was running at 12.6 feet at 3 p.m. Friday and was expected to rise to near the flood stage of 17 feet by noon today. A flood warning also was issued for the Coquille River between Myrtle Point and Bandon. A chain restriction for single-axle vehicles on I-5 was issued at about 8 a.m. Friday, and it soon extended to all cars. Motorists, let through in groups of 50 to 100, found that even with chains the going was slippery, particularly between mileposts 2 and 7. Many had to be freed by "push trucks." "It's been closed down, opened back up, closed down, opened back up all day long," Oregon State Police Sgt. Steven Cupernall said. While Oregon Department of Transportation crews were plowing the packed snow all day, district manager John Vial said, Sgt. Cupernall said that motorists held up at the chain checkpoints at mileposts 1 and 11 didn't understand the need for chains, as they saw only bare pavement and rain. Over at milepost 11, "the tension's been running pretty high," said Robert Key, a maintenance worker for the Oregon Department of Transportation. Truckers on schedules were frustrated, he said. One trucker, 52-year-old Terry Hill of Utah, was held up three hours. At the front of the line Friday, Hill said at about 2:45 p.m. that he was supposed to be in Bakersfield, Calif., by morning to deliver his truckload of vinyl. But he'd already told his dispatcher he might not get there. The hungry trucker didn't have food with him, but he bided the time reading a "Hollywood Babylon" book on old movie actresses. He didn't seem to mind the wait too much. "I've been doing this a long time, so I don't get excited" about the delay, the 25-year trucking veteran said. A few minutes later, he would be on his way. Several vehicles behind Hill's semi-truck, motorist Olga Naidenova said she'd been waiting for four hours. She was supposed to be in San Francisco by 5 p.m. for a Christian conference. A state police dispatch supervisor said Friday night she wasn't aware of any accidents on the pass -- just disabled motorists blocking the road. As of about 7 p.m. Friday, ODOT's Vial said all northbound and southbound traffic was being let through and moving slowly. But all it would take is one truck to spin out to change that, he said. Vial said there had been plenty of motorists who tried to make it through the pass without chains, and some citations were issued. Sgt. Cupernall said motorists who drive without required chains face a $299 fine. Some motorists who bought cable chains were out of luck, unaware of a special restriction Friday prohibiting the use of cable chains on the pass. Cupernall said that the weather conditions were causing the cable chains to tear, and motorists who had them were told they weren't permitted. Although four-wheel drive vehicles were the exception to the chain requirement, motorists driving the four-wheel drives still had to carry the chains with them, Cupernall said. "I'd be awful surprised if this thing doesn't last until some time tomorrow," Sgt. Cupernall said. For road conditions for Oregon, check the Mail Tribune's website at www.mailtribune.com or call 1-800-977-6368. For California road conditions, call 1-800-427-7623. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA