Although snow accumulation totals are not yet available, areas around the region have received significant amounts of frozen precipitation, from frozen rain, and hail, to feet of snow with some coastal areas seeing considerable snow accumulations.
Sunday afternoon the California Highway Patrol notified the public that units and personnel were out on U.S. Hwy. 199 assisting motorists get through the snow, with assistance from CalTrans, in efforts to keep the highway open with plow trucks.
CalTrans crews advise that even with continuous hard work hard to keep the highway open, it is difficult to predict when or if the snow could get too deep to safely plow and keep the road open.
Southern Oregon has experienced several road closures due to the impacts of the winter snow storm. The Oregon Department of Transportation announced that OR-46 near Cave Junction has been closed because of trees and power lines that have fallen along the highway.
In California, the statewide snow pack has jumped from 22% of normal two weeks ago to 146% of normal late Sunday after a parade of storms slammed the region with heavy snow.
Interstate Hwy. 80 and U.S. Hwy. 50 in northern California were closed late Saturday from approximately 50 miles north of Sacramento at Colfax on Hwy. 80 to those traveling to the Reno area, and to the Tahoe region at Placerville on Hwy. 50, and remained closed Sunday due to poor visibility, whiteout conditions & heavy snow with no estimated time of opening as crews are expected to assess the highways Monday morning.
