An Accident involving Multi-vehicle shut down on Interstate-5 due to Snow.

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(Free-Press-Release.com) January 20, 2012 -- Highway workers and California Highway Patrol officers dealt with numerous weather-related car crashes, injuries, two-hour delays and a pair of accidents involving nine vehicles that shut down northbound Interstate 5.

It all began with a low pressure system that rolled into the north state, bringing with it rain and snow as temperatures reached record lows. State workers and law enforcement had to cope with the weather and set up chain checkpoints, clear downed trees and manage several crashes, beginning with the multicar accidents about 7:30 a.m.

The pileup on northbound I-5 began with a collision between a tour bus and a big rig. Other vehicles, including other big rigs, a mail truck and a CHP cruiser, were involved in the collisions on the snowy freeway.

Many on the tour bus required medical treatment and didn't speak English.

A dispatcher reported that an elderly person on the bus was complaining of chest pains. Another suffered a possible seizure. Another might have had head injuries. Ambulances from as far away as Mount Shasta drove to the wreck to transport the injured people.

A school bus reportedly was able to make it to the wreck site by about 10:30 a.m. CHP officer J.D. Womack said he didn't know where the bus was going to take the stranded passengers.

Drivers were stuck in traffic until the CHP began letting some vehicles through around 11 a.m.

Gurdev Singh, of Sacramento, was driving north in a U-Haul truck, hoping to reach Salem, Ore. by 5 p.m. to get the keys to a new apartment.

"It's very difficult," Singh said, noting that he didn't expect to make it in time. "I don't worry about the cold, but I am bothered by the accidents. The truck drivers, they all have appointments for unloading."

CHP officers shut down northbound I-5 until around 11 a.m., when they began letting some vehicles through. By 1 p.m., it was opened.

Other wrecks occurred throughout the day, many a result of the snow, said Denise Yergenson, chief public information officer for the California Department of Transportation.

After northbound I-5 was reopened Caltrans put up a chain checkpoint 10 miles north of Redding at Fawndale, Yergenson said. That led to two-hour delays on northbound I-5 as workers metered traffic, only letting a few vehicles pass through at a time. They also checked for chains on all vehicles except those with four-wheel drive and snow tires.

For several hours northbound traffic was backed up more than 10 miles south to Hilltop Drive in Redding, and Yergenson said drivers could expect a two-hour delay.

Caltrans also required chains on vehicles on Highway 299 west into Trinity County and on Highway 89 between Burney and McCloud without any checkpoints, Yergenson said. Highway 299 was closed four times — first for snowy conditions, a second time when a tree fell, and two closures involving vehicle mishaps. Three of the closures occurred at Oregon Mountain,

Caltrans' officials made the chain and metering decision based on safety, as signs as far south as Corning had warned that I-5 was shut down. She said many people heading up to Siskiyou County and farther likely stopped to wait for the freeway to be cleared.

After it opened, they began heading north on I-5, she said. That influx of drivers could have snagged up traffic between Redding and Dunsmuir, stranding people in freezing snow far from services such as groceries or gas and without supplies. The metering means there are only a few vehicles on a patch of road at a time.

She said Caltrans didn't mandate the metering because of the multiple-car crash.

Caltrans lifted the chain requirements around 7 p.m. after the roads were cleared, Yergenson said. But, the metering and chain requirements may return depending on the inclement weather, she said. She advised drivers to slow down and carry water and blankets during the snowstorms.

The winter weather should last for a few days, said Holly Osborne, a meteorologist from the National Weather Service in Sacramento. She said a patch of cold air became trapped in the valley between the mountains and underneath a high pressure system. Osborne said the cold air brought Tuesday's low to a tie with the record, 16 degrees, from 2009.

The high pressure system moved out this week, allowing the low system to sweep in with its Pacific Ocean moisture. The cold air and new air will mix and warm up the valley.

But it will also lead to a few wet days, she said, and the cold air will keep the snow level between 1,500 and 2,000 feet.

The rainy days will continue as forecast models predict more rain in the next few months.

"We could be above normal in January and February," she said. "But, because we're so far behind, it will be hard to get up to normal or above normal (for the season)."

The rain and snow could be heavier today and Friday, she said, with more than 2 inches of precipitation possibly falling by Saturday, which has a 50 percent chance for showers. Another system is expected to drop more precipitation on Sunday. The mountains can expect 15-25 mph winds, with 40 mph gusts

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