Her454
10-31-2003, 01:08 PM
ANd the crap that goes with it......I know I hit my brakes this morning and went a bit sideways.....
Updated 12:43 p.m. Oct. 31] Just a few days after record-breaking heat, winter weather arrived in Northern California, which authorities say contributed to a series of crashes that closed Interstate 80 Friday morning.
No one was killed, and only one person was expected to be hospitalized overnight in the 30-vehicle series of crashes that were blamed in part on the first snow of the season.
Shortly after 2:30 a.m. Friday, big rigs and cars heading east on Interstate 80 lost control in the slippery conditions, setting off the chain-reaction accident.
The six big rigs jackknifed and collided with each other and three passenger cars about a mile below the Donner Summit near Truckee, blocking the highway, said California Highway Patrol Office Eric Strecker.
Shortly afterward, three separate crashes involving six big rigs and six cars contributed to at least 10 other spinouts. At about the same time, a cattle truck driving in the west bound lane jackknifed.
One vehicle, a UPS truck, drove off the embankment and slid at least 100 feet before it burst into flames, causing a grass fire, Strecker said. The fire was extinguished.
"It looked like a war zone," Strecker said.
Strecker said it was difficult to say exactly how many cars and trucks were involved. He said there were at least 10 crashes involving as many as 30 vehicles.
Eleven people were taken to the Tahoe Forest Hospital in Truckee, where eight were treated and released Friday morning. Two others were scheduled to be released later in the day. Yamina Hives, 21, of Oakland, was taken to Washoe Medical Center in Reno, Nev. Information on her condition was not available Friday morning.
"To have the amount of injuries as minimal as they were is definitely remarkable," Strecker said.
The cause of the crashes was being investigated.
The highway's westbound lanes were opened just before 7 a.m. Friday. The eastbound lanes were not expected to be opened before 1:30 p.m. The road is the main link between Nevada and California.
The cold, wet weather is expected to continue. A low pressure system dropping down from Canada brought unusually cold air to the Sacramento Valley Thursday night. Snow levels dipped to under 3,000 feet.
High elevations reported upward of four inches of snow, said National Weather Service forecaster Karl Swanberg.
Across Northern California, the first storm of the season caused scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms and hailstorms in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Monterey Bay region.
The National Weather Service warned that driving conditions would be slippery as the first rainfall of the season mixed with oil residue on roads.
-- Associated Press
:eek:
Updated 12:43 p.m. Oct. 31] Just a few days after record-breaking heat, winter weather arrived in Northern California, which authorities say contributed to a series of crashes that closed Interstate 80 Friday morning.
No one was killed, and only one person was expected to be hospitalized overnight in the 30-vehicle series of crashes that were blamed in part on the first snow of the season.
Shortly after 2:30 a.m. Friday, big rigs and cars heading east on Interstate 80 lost control in the slippery conditions, setting off the chain-reaction accident.
The six big rigs jackknifed and collided with each other and three passenger cars about a mile below the Donner Summit near Truckee, blocking the highway, said California Highway Patrol Office Eric Strecker.
Shortly afterward, three separate crashes involving six big rigs and six cars contributed to at least 10 other spinouts. At about the same time, a cattle truck driving in the west bound lane jackknifed.
One vehicle, a UPS truck, drove off the embankment and slid at least 100 feet before it burst into flames, causing a grass fire, Strecker said. The fire was extinguished.
"It looked like a war zone," Strecker said.
Strecker said it was difficult to say exactly how many cars and trucks were involved. He said there were at least 10 crashes involving as many as 30 vehicles.
Eleven people were taken to the Tahoe Forest Hospital in Truckee, where eight were treated and released Friday morning. Two others were scheduled to be released later in the day. Yamina Hives, 21, of Oakland, was taken to Washoe Medical Center in Reno, Nev. Information on her condition was not available Friday morning.
"To have the amount of injuries as minimal as they were is definitely remarkable," Strecker said.
The cause of the crashes was being investigated.
The highway's westbound lanes were opened just before 7 a.m. Friday. The eastbound lanes were not expected to be opened before 1:30 p.m. The road is the main link between Nevada and California.
The cold, wet weather is expected to continue. A low pressure system dropping down from Canada brought unusually cold air to the Sacramento Valley Thursday night. Snow levels dipped to under 3,000 feet.
High elevations reported upward of four inches of snow, said National Weather Service forecaster Karl Swanberg.
Across Northern California, the first storm of the season caused scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms and hailstorms in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Monterey Bay region.
The National Weather Service warned that driving conditions would be slippery as the first rainfall of the season mixed with oil residue on roads.
-- Associated Press
:eek: