El Niño’s third punch smacks motorists

By Patric Hedlund

El Niño’s third punch landed on the last day of January in the Mountain Communities. High winds and rain began midmorning on Sunday, Jan. 31. A drop in temperature brought a dusting of icy white to the Western Antelope Valley and two to three inches of fluffy snow at 6,000 feet in the Pine Mountain community to the west.

The wind blew snow into two-foot high drifts in some places. Mists blocked visibility on and off for Interstate 5 drivers, leading to rollovers. The gates to Mount Piños were closed.

By 4 p.m. the icy roadway t west of the Cuddy Valley-Mil Potrero ‘Y’ began sending over two dozen cars on a slow…(please see below to view full stories and photographs)

Photo captions:

(l-r) This grey sedan left Interstate 5 south of Gorman School Road. The driver was taken to the hospital. At 1:05 p.m. this single vehicle rollover on Frazier Mountain Park Rd. west of Lockwood Valley set the tone for the afternoon. Another single vehicle rollover off of I-5, near Quail Lake exit; and at 2:30 a.m. (right and top, above) two cars on their sides off of Highway 138 near Neenach.

A vivid rainbow over the Neenach area on Sunday, Jan. 31 at 10:20 a.m. before the temperature plunged.

To see full stories with photos, please purchase a copy of the newspaper at many locations (click this link for a list) throughout the Mountain Communities.

Or, have your newspaper delivered via mail and include internet access. Just call 661-245-3794. Classified ads are FREE to paid subscribers! See front page at www.mountainenterprise.com for details.

The e-Edition is available now with full photos and stories at The Mountain Enterprise e-Edition

(subscriber login required)

This is part of the February 5, 2016 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

Have an opinion on this matter? We'd like to hear from you.