LAKE COUNTY — Officials are urging caution on the roads after Thursday night”s snowfall. The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a snow advisory for the Clear Lake area at 4 p.m. Friday effective until 4 p.m. Saturday.
A NWS forecast for Lakeport updated at 4:24 p.m. Friday included a low of 32 degrees Friday night with a 90 percent chance of precipitation.
“That would be worse than snow,” Mendocino Area California Highway Patrol officer Chad Ramsey said Friday. Rain and freezing temperatures can create black ice that takes drivers by surprise, Ramsey said.
“With snow you have some traction, and you can see snow on the road,” Ramsey said. “The ice, you might not be able to see … and the next thing you know you”re losing control. Imagine driving on an ice skating rink, it”s much the same thing out there on the roads.”
A driver “fishtailing” should turn the steering wheel slightly in the same direction that the car”s rear end is sliding to regain control, according to Ramsey.
Lake County Public Works director Gerald “G.R.” Shaul said tire chains or four-wheel drive is required on Elk Mountain Road and Bartlett Springs Road. The advisory extends from the base of Elk Mountain Road on Highway 20 to Lake Pillsbury and up to the Mendocino County line, and on Bartlett Springs Road from Highway 20 to the Indian Valley Reservoir and the Colusa County line, Shaul said.
Shaul said his road crews were plowing county roads from 5 p.m. through the rest of Friday night. The two mountain roads, however, are not a priority. “Most of it”s national forest and very few people live there,” Shaul said. “We don”t have the resources to go up there and plow snow at the top of the mountain, and sometimes it gets pretty deep.” Shaul said the highest elevation on the two mountain roads is around 4,600 feet.
Four inches of snow fell on Cobb Mountain at an elevation of 3,200 feet, according to a Friday NWS special weather statement. The Clear Lake area got an inch of snow as low as 2,000 feet, according to the report.
Ramsey recommended extra caution during the rainy, overcast conditions expected in the next week. “If you”re driving a speed where you feel comfortable, I”d reduce that by five or 10 miles an hour,” Ramsey said. He also recommended doubling following distance between cars from the standard three seconds to six.
A 30 percent chance of showers is expected Saturday night with mostly cloudy conditions and a low around 39 degrees. Sunday is expected to be partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers and a low around 28 degrees.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
