CindyH
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2005
- Messages
- 433
Not sure if it's still closed...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2007/01/17/state/n113859S70.DTL
Snow closes Interstate 5 north of Los Angeles
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Wednesday, January 17, 2007
(01-17) 12:36 PST Los Angeles (AP) --
Blizzard conditions brought traffic to a halt on Interstate 5 in the mountains north of Los Angeles on Wednesday as a sudden storm added to woes of biting cold that has kept its grip on California for a week, even causing unusual temperature-related ruptures in water pipes.
Heavy snow and icy conditions left vehicles stuck on the major route, which climbs over 4,144-foot Tejon Pass from the Los Angeles Basin north to the San Joaquin Valley. A heavy backup developed on the south side.
"We have jackknifed trucks in the snow we're trying to get out of there," said Officer Dave Pokorny of the California Highway Patrol's Newhall Station.
The storm struck about 9 a.m.
"It was a cell that hit us. We had no idea that it was coming, it just hit us all at once," Pokorny said.
Stranded motorist Ernest Eckhardt told KCAL-TV he thought he could make it through the blizzard.
"It was kind of raining and it turned to sleet and I thought, `Well, the rest I can go,' but then it turned bad quickly," he said. "It just dropped so much snow and the water on the road froze and the snow on top of it was just too slick."
Snow mixed with hail also fell at lower elevations of northern Los Angeles County, leaving some neighborhoods with rare coatings of white.
The National Weather Service said the wintry precipitation was from an upper-level low moving through the region.
The cold set in late last week, bringing night after night of freezing overnight temperature to many parts of the state and causing extensive agricultural damage.
In the high desert north of Los Angeles, the early morning low was 8 degrees at Lancaster and 14 at Palmdale. Numerous other points in Southern California had lows in the 30s, with some areas in the 20s. Downtown Los Angeles was 44 overnight.
In the Van Nuys area of the San Fernando Valley, where the morning low was 35, a 6-inch water main broke and flooded a street. Service was cut to 30 homes, said Carol Tucker, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
The city's water mains don't freeze because they are underground, but extremely cold water can cause the cast iron pipes to crack, Tucker said.
Fire departments across Southern California have reported hundreds of calls in recent days about burst pipes. The Victorville courthouse got flooded when sprinkler heads ruptured, and broken irrigation lines may have caused a mudslide that blocked a private road to five Pasadena homes with 150 tons of debris Monday night.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2007/01/17/state/n113859S70.DTL
Snow closes Interstate 5 north of Los Angeles
-
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
(01-17) 12:36 PST Los Angeles (AP) --
Blizzard conditions brought traffic to a halt on Interstate 5 in the mountains north of Los Angeles on Wednesday as a sudden storm added to woes of biting cold that has kept its grip on California for a week, even causing unusual temperature-related ruptures in water pipes.
Heavy snow and icy conditions left vehicles stuck on the major route, which climbs over 4,144-foot Tejon Pass from the Los Angeles Basin north to the San Joaquin Valley. A heavy backup developed on the south side.
"We have jackknifed trucks in the snow we're trying to get out of there," said Officer Dave Pokorny of the California Highway Patrol's Newhall Station.
The storm struck about 9 a.m.
"It was a cell that hit us. We had no idea that it was coming, it just hit us all at once," Pokorny said.
Stranded motorist Ernest Eckhardt told KCAL-TV he thought he could make it through the blizzard.
"It was kind of raining and it turned to sleet and I thought, `Well, the rest I can go,' but then it turned bad quickly," he said. "It just dropped so much snow and the water on the road froze and the snow on top of it was just too slick."
Snow mixed with hail also fell at lower elevations of northern Los Angeles County, leaving some neighborhoods with rare coatings of white.
The National Weather Service said the wintry precipitation was from an upper-level low moving through the region.
The cold set in late last week, bringing night after night of freezing overnight temperature to many parts of the state and causing extensive agricultural damage.
In the high desert north of Los Angeles, the early morning low was 8 degrees at Lancaster and 14 at Palmdale. Numerous other points in Southern California had lows in the 30s, with some areas in the 20s. Downtown Los Angeles was 44 overnight.
In the Van Nuys area of the San Fernando Valley, where the morning low was 35, a 6-inch water main broke and flooded a street. Service was cut to 30 homes, said Carol Tucker, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
The city's water mains don't freeze because they are underground, but extremely cold water can cause the cast iron pipes to crack, Tucker said.
Fire departments across Southern California have reported hundreds of calls in recent days about burst pipes. The Victorville courthouse got flooded when sprinkler heads ruptured, and broken irrigation lines may have caused a mudslide that blocked a private road to five Pasadena homes with 150 tons of debris Monday night.
Time to turn on the car engine 
