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January 2023 Bomb Cyclone closures

Started by Max Rockatansky, January 09, 2023, 03:55:45 PM

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Max Rockatansky



Max Rockatansky

The expressway segment of CA 168 near Prather-Shaver Lake closed again due to rock fall:

https://abc30.com/highway-168-four-lane-rockslide-flooding/12681302/

Max Rockatansky

#2
I-505 has a rare closure.  From the QuickMap:

Southbound 505 Full Closure

From Jct Rte 5 to Co Rd 19

Due to Emergency Work
No estimated time for reopening of closure.
Information courtesy of

Last updated: 01/09/2023 4:38pm


Even a rare closure for CA 129:

Eastbound / Westbound 129 Full Closure

From Route 101 to Rogge Lane

Due to Slide - Mud/Dirt/Rock
No estimated time for reopening of closure.
Information courtesy of

Last updated: 01/09/2023 4:41pm

rschen7754


cl94

#4
I-80 was briefly closed east of Reno today due to flooding, right at the beginning of the afternoon rush hour. That caused a nice traffic mess that turned Reno/Sparks to gridlock for a while.

On the California side:

SR 1 is closed in many locations between Oxnard and Fort Bragg due to slides and flooding, including the entire Big Sur segment
SRs 9, 17, and 35 are closed north of Santa Cruz due to slides and flooding.
SR 33 is closed between SR 140 and SR 132 due to flooding.
SR 70 has been closed through Feather River Canyon for much of today due to slides.
Both Sacramento Delta ferries are closed.

Because the last storm was so recent, some roads have not yet been reopened from after the last storm, including SR 4 east of Farmington and several ramps along SR 99 near the Cosumnes River.
Please note: All posts represent my personal opinions and do not represent those of my employer or any of its partner agencies.

Travel Mapping (updated weekly)

gonealookin

A typical (once or twice a winter) severe weather closure is in place on US 395 between Bridgeport and a little north of Bishop, something like 80 miles, most of which is over 7000 feet elevation.  Those US 395 closures can last a couple days or so.

Also some not-unusual Tahoe-area closures of "all-year" roads:  SR 88 over Carson Pass and Carson Spur, so there's no access to the Kirkwood ski resort (can also go a couple days) and the avalanche area of SR 89 around Emerald Bay, which has been closed continuously for approximately 10 days.

cl94

Quote from: gonealookin on January 09, 2023, 11:31:05 PM
A typical (once or twice a winter) severe weather closure is in place on US 395 between Bridgeport and a little north of Bishop, something like 80 miles, most of which is over 7000 feet elevation.  Those US 395 closures can last a couple days or so.

Also some not-unusual Tahoe-area closures of "all-year" roads:  SR 88 over Carson Pass and Carson Spur, so there's no access to the Kirkwood ski resort (can also go a couple days) and the avalanche area of SR 89 around Emerald Bay, which has been closed continuously for approximately 10 days.

Already the second or third time this year we've had that 395 closure. Today was made worse by a US 6 closure in Nevada between the state line and SR 360 due to a crash.

88 has been closed off and on for like 2 months at this point. That's not a super unusual one, but still a PITA given that 50 has had flooding issues in recent weeks along the American River. I drove it a week after the mid-December storm and there was tons of avalanche evidence. 89, yeah, not a ton you can do about that. 431 has had a couple closures over the same timeframe, again not much you can do given avalanche risk there.

A more unusual Tahoe closure was SR 207 over the New Year's weekend. Combine that with the other closures and there was a short period that weekend when, with other flood/snow closures in the region, the only way in/out of the Tahoe basin was US 50 over Spooner Summit.
Please note: All posts represent my personal opinions and do not represent those of my employer or any of its partner agencies.

Travel Mapping (updated weekly)

GaryA

Quote from: rschen7754 on January 09, 2023, 09:01:39 PM
US 101 has a number of closures in the Santa Barbara/San Luis Obispo area

https://www.ksby.com/news/local-news/northbound-hwy-101-closed-near-gaviota

In fact, Santa Barbara is cut off at this time.  US 101 is closed on both sides of it, and so are CA 154 and CA 150.  There just aren't a lot of roads in and out of that area.

I was driving home last night, and saw a VMS message informing me that NB US 101 was closed at CA 33 in Ventura (Ventura River was flowing over the highway), and that trucks should use CA 126.  Only problem with that:  CA 126 was also closed.

gonealookin

Quote from: cl94 on January 10, 2023, 12:02:56 AM
A more unusual Tahoe closure was SR 207 over the New Year's weekend. Combine that with the other closures and there was a short period that weekend when, with other flood/snow closures in the region, the only way in/out of the Tahoe basin was US 50 over Spooner Summit.

Yes, there was a lot of snow on New Year's Eve, but NDOT was able to get the snow cleared in a reasonable time.  The issue on SR 207 was that people tried to drive over that while ignoring the chains or 4WD/AWD with snow tires requirements that were posted.  They got stuck and had to abandon their cars and get rides down the hill.  The abandoned cars were the problem; private tow trucks were called in to clear that up but that took a while because they had plenty of other work going on in those conditions as well.  My thought is that SR 207 would be a good place to put Caltrans-style checkpoints on each side to make sure drivers are properly equipped for conditions when it's that bad, particularly on weekends and especially on holiday weekends like New Year, but NDOT so far is resistant, relying on the signage and voluntary compliance.  This time, that got them a ~48-hour closure of an important highway. 

cl94

US 95 currently closed north of Hawthorne, NV due to a slide. This is the main detour for the still-closed section of US 395, so SR 361 is the next best option.

At the time I'm writing this, there are no roads across the Sierra fully open between SR 58 and SR 32 according to info I'm getting from public and internal sources. That is, you're not crossing the Sierra period unless you go around it because everything is closed to snow, slides, or a combo of both. Though it's dumb to even attempt driving in this weather unless it's a life or death situation.
Please note: All posts represent my personal opinions and do not represent those of my employer or any of its partner agencies.

Travel Mapping (updated weekly)

gonealookin

#10
NV 208 appears to have some major issues between Smith Valley and Mason Valley.

https://twitter.com/nevadadotreno/status/1613006844842373122

pderocco

There was a major crash on I-15 in Escondido, only peripherally related to the rain, which closed the SB side for hours. A big car carrier overturned. When they report an n-car collision, I wonder how they define n in that situation...

gonealookin

The US 395 closures in Mono County continue; these are some of the lengthiest I can recall.  District 9 expects to have 395 fully opened from Bishop to SR 203 at Mammoth Lakes at noon today, and from SR 203 north to Lee Vining by 5 p.m.  As to Lee Vining to SR 182 in Bridgeport, they say there's still a lot of snow to be removed over Conway Summit (a bit over 8000' just north of Mono Lake) and they don't have an estimated reopening time yet.

cl94

NV SR 207 was closed for 16 hours or so overnight. Waiting for more info on what happened there.

SR 208 might be a while. Lyon County is plowing Mason Pass as a local alternate for 4WD vehicles until that's reopened.
Please note: All posts represent my personal opinions and do not represent those of my employer or any of its partner agencies.

Travel Mapping (updated weekly)

gonealookin

The drone footage of the SR 208 rockslide is pretty cool.  It won't just be getting those boulders off the road; they are going to have to stabilize that whole cliff area.

https://twitter.com/nevadadotreno/status/1613259503688110080

SR 208 is part of the #1 Google Maps-recommended route from Tahoe to Las Vegas.  Between that closure and the US 395 shutdown south of Bridgeport, US 395 south of Gardnerville NV has temporarily been demoted from US Route to Cul-de-sac.

cl94

US 395 opened around noon between Bishop and Mammoth. Mammoth to Lee Vining opened at 6 PM Pacific this evening with escorts and R2 chain control. Still no ETO north of Lee Vining. Caltrans D9 posted this pic earlier at Conway Summit.

https://twitter.com/Caltrans9/status/1613280210987933696

SR 88 opened over Carson Spur at 6 PM Pacific this evening with R2 chain control. Despite what the post says, the Carson Spur is in Amador County, not Alpine County.

https://twitter.com/CaltransDist10/status/1613331982615724034
Please note: All posts represent my personal opinions and do not represent those of my employer or any of its partner agencies.

Travel Mapping (updated weekly)

bing101


thsftw

Highway 92 between San Mateo and Half Moon Bay is out of service from a giant sinkhole.

https://twitter.com/CaltransD4/status/1613622750614294528

cl94

#18
US 395 between SR 167 and SR 182 has still not reopened. Local and service traffic was being escorted through this afternoon, but that is expected to stop around 5 PM as the next storm rolls in.

https://twitter.com/Caltrans9/status/1613976123981058048

Additionally, I-80 WB is closed between Verdi and Floriston due to a slide near Mystic.

https://twitter.com/CaltransDist3/status/1614038882542325762
Please note: All posts represent my personal opinions and do not represent those of my employer or any of its partner agencies.

Travel Mapping (updated weekly)

Max Rockatansky

In a stroke of luck my work travel to Monterey was cancelled Monday night after the roads along 152 and 156 starting having flooding issues.  I say "luck"  because where I was going in Monterey might be cutoff due to flooding the Salians River which could potentially close 68 and 1.  I was scheduled to return to the Central Valley tonight if my trip went through.

gonealookin

I have not seen any official release from NDOT about the situation on SR 208 in Wilson Canyon, but there were some news reports suggesting that the road will be closed "for months" due to the instability of the remaining slope above the highway.  AADT through there is only about 1800, but if you're one of the 1800 who has to do that daily for some reason, that's a big inconvenience.  Mason Pass Road would be slow at best, and the paved detour is a long way around through Silver Springs and Carson City via Alternate US 95 and US 50.

Along the lines of work travel trips, I'm scheduled for a trip from Tahoe to the Coachella Valley in a few days.  That's usually a solid one-day drive mostly down US 395.  With quite a bit more snow forecast over this weekend, a detour forcing me out onto US 95 would turn it into more like 1-1/2 days. 

bing101

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on January 13, 2023, 07:03:53 PM
In a stroke of luck my work travel to Monterey was cancelled Monday night after the roads along 152 and 156 starting having flooding issues.  I say "luck"  because where I was going in Monterey might be cutoff due to flooding the Salians River which could potentially close 68 and 1.  I was scheduled to return to the Central Valley tonight if my trip went through.
Hope for the best.

skluth

Travel to Monterey looks really risky right now. From CNN:

Quote
Monterey Peninsula residents could soon be living on an island as mammoth flooding threatens to cut them off from the rest of California.

The state has been hammered by a cascade of atmospheric rivers — long, narrow regions in the atmosphere that can carry moisture thousands of miles.

At least 18 people have died, neighborhoods have turned into lakes, and countless homes have been destroyed as a string of storms toppled trees and paralyzed communities over the past two weeks.

But a sliver of good news emerged Thursday: The nearly relentless rainfall has lifted much of California out of "extreme drought"  conditions.

And many walloped communities are getting a brief respite from brutal weather Thursday. But cities are still inundated — and more storms are on the way.

"˜Monterey Peninsula may become an island'

Just south of the San Francisco Bay Area, cities including Monterey, Carmel and Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula could soon be severed from the rest of California due to epic floodwater.

"If anyone was here in 1995, you know that during a large flooding event, the Monterey Peninsula became an island — people were either stuck on one side or the other,"  Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto warned Wednesday evening.

"And we anticipate that we're going to go into a similar situation, but not as bad. Some of the roadways are going to be closed, and you could be stuck on one side or the other."

The sheriff's office upgraded evacuation warnings to evacuation orders Wednesday in low-lying areas near the Salinas River.

"Monterey Peninsula may become an island again like it did in the '95 floods, so please start preparing now,"  the sheriff warned.

Nieto said it could be days before residents are allowed to return home, as crews need to make sure the area is safe.

See link for rest of article

bing101


gonealookin

US 395 has fully reopened and was in decent shape this morning, if you're used to driving on snowy roads.  I made Gardnerville to Bishop, about 150 miles, in 2 hours, 50 minutes.  There were some icy stretches and much of the four-lane portions were only one or 1-1/2 lanes each way.  Very few trucks were using it which made it a much easier trip; I think the detour via US 6 is still strongly recommended for trucks.



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