More snow on I80!

Updated!

My trucker friend called to find out what the snow was like in the pass. He's on his way back West again having made his drops in Reno and beyond. It looks like a mess up there. CalTrans road conditions page says chains are required, but they are holding trucks at the Nevada State line. Normally my friend is exempt when they close the roads to trucks because he's carrying the mail, so we'll see what happens. I checked all the cameras, as usual, and it really looks nasty up there.

The camera at the Truckee scale is wobbling really bad because of the wind and there is a lot of snow blowing sideways. For the few minutes I watched the camera, I didn't see a single truck, so they must be holding most of them.

Hmmm... Now that I have a screen shot posted, I see a truck going through the scale.. Fed Ex, of course.. lol




They've got definite problems at the Hwy. 89 and I80 junction. The Eastbound side of the highway is moving slower than a person could walk. According to the CHP site, they had a multiple vehicle mixup. No injuries, thank goodness. I've been watching this camera for about 15 minutes now and it doesn't look like there's going to be any let up in the traffic for a while.




The Kingvale camera is almost completely whited out with the snow and ice packed on it. Once in a while I can see a dark shadow move by where I know the road is, but you sure can't tell it's a car from the view on the camera!

The Whitmore camera looks very similar to the screen shots from yesterday. It doesn't even look like the wind is blowing very much there. Just lots of snow covered cars on the road heading towards the camera.

One of these days I'm going to have to try timing the screen shots for when my trucker friend is passing by. I've actually seen him on one or two of the cams when we've been on the phone at the same time.. He tells me "Look quick, I see the camera!" and yep.. There he goes.. White truck and grayish trailer.. lol

The weathermen were predicting that this storm would be kind of like the one we had back in the beginning of January. High winds, lots of rain, etc. During the January storm, the power went out and stayed out for quite a while. The little town where I am was without power for nearly a day but since the PG&E maintenance yard is here in town they jumped right on it and got the lights back on. But outlying areas were without power for days. This time, so far, all the power has done is blink a couple times. It triggered the alarm on my battery backup for my computer, but we haven't lost power so far. I've got my fingers crossed that we don't end up in the dark again. Last time my freezer started defrosting before my next door neighbor hooked me up to his generator. This time, well, I've got my fingers crossed!

Update 3:20pm
I just got another call from my trucker friend. That traffic mess in the 89/80 junction camera? The traffic mess is still there... In the camera, and in my friend's view. He's stuck in that mess. The CHP site says that they have a major boggle up near the vista point. That is miles from where the camera is. Poor guy is going to have a very long day. The camera is still showing a stop and go crawl on that side of the highway.

Update 10:35pm
My trucker friend called again. The interstate is still technically closed, but they've got enough of it clear to let the trucks carrying the mail get moving again. He says that the blowing snow is really bad. But the road has been "cleared" some by the plows. Poor guy started his day at 4am this morning. Then sat at the side of the road West of Truckee for nearly 8 hours. It's days like today that make me a bit happy that I'm not driving rigs anymore. I can sit here in my house, in front of my computer with a hot cup of coffee and surf the net. If I was still driving, who knows where I'd be...
Anyway, I thought I'd put one last screen shot in for today. Here's the Truckee Scale again. Lonely, quiet and cold. The camera isn't shaking nearly as bad as it was earlier. But there's still a bit of snow blowing sideways now and then. Brrrr.....