H&N's: New snow a new hazard

New snow a new hazard

Allen Cole shovels snow off his driveway at 203 Second St. Monday morning.

January 17, 2006

By STEVE KADEL

H&N Staff Writer

An overnight snowfall created hazardous driving conditions Monday in the Klamath Basin.

Flakes began falling at 4 a.m. and measured 6 inches at Klamath Falls International Airport by late morning.

It was good timing for children, who had the day off from school to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Likewise, adults observing the holiday found ideal cross-country skiing conditions due to the unusually dry, fluffy snow.

Those required to drive weren't as happy. Klamath County Road Department foreman Tom Gilleland said snow fell onto ice in some places, making roads treacherous.

“Later in the day it warmed up enough that there was a skin of water on ice, and it was slick again,” he said.

County sanding trucks, plows and graders were on the roads as soon as snow began falling, Gilleland said. Although King Day is a holiday for county employees, plenty of road crew workers were available because they can use the holiday anytime throughout the year.

“We didn't have any real trouble spots,” Gilleland said. “We usually only have those when it drifts or trees are down.”

Still, some motorists found conditions plenty challenging. The Oregon State Police reported numerous non-injury accidents.

A four-vehicle collision occurred at 10 a.m. Monday at the intersection of Highway 140 and Green Springs Drive. It began when a loaded log truck with chains on its drive tires slid off the road.

A driver in a 1991 Buick lost control of her car and struck the log truck. Then another log truck, also equipped with chains, slid off the road.

“Most vehicles that slowed for the crash began to slide sideways,” OSP troopers said in a press release.

Forty minutes later, a driver of a semi-truck with chains tried to turn east onto the Southside Expressway, but slid slowly down the grade from a full stop, OSP said. The truck struck the Buick and came to rest against the first log truck.

In a separate two-vehicle collision Monday morning, police said inexperience driving on snow and ice caused a motorist to hit another vehicle, whose driver had pulled onto the shoulder to read a map at mile 3.5 of the Southside Expressway. Instead of continuing past the stopped vehicle, police said, the driver hit his brakes and his vehicle began to slide.

The National Weather Service forecast calls for some rain and 2 inches of snow today, with snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches during the night.

The Basin's soggy winter has given members of the Klamath Water Users Association reason to smile about summer water availability.

“We are pretty optimistic, but we believe it's still a little early to tell,” executive director Greg Addington said. “Things look pretty good, but it's so important that the mountain snowpack stays there.”

Warm rains in February and March could deplete the snowpack that Basin users depend on for at least half their summer water. The ideal scenario, Addington said, is for cold temperatures until spring so the water can release gradually into rivers and creeks.

“The colder, the better,” he said.

Addington cautioned that water will be an issue during the summer, one way or another.

“No matter how much water we have, there will be conflicts,” he said.

- Herald and News reporter Laura McVicker contributed to this story.