Weekend storm brings heavy rain, snow across southern Oregon, northern Cal

SOUTHERN OREGON — A duo of atmospheric river storms across the pacific northwest over the weekend, brought a mix of rain and snow in southern Oregon and northern California.

The hardest hit parts were the cascades including Diamond Lake – which was forecasted to receive up to a foot of snow. Areas west of the cascades received mostly rain, but snow was reported in some lower elevations.

The conditions on Ore-62 and surrounding areas prompted Prospect Charter School to cancel classes Monday. The school has not yet sent an announcement on if the cancellation will continue into Tuesday.

Over the weekend, the heavy rain caused several traffic disruptions in Josephine county including highway 199.

“Majority of [the crashes] are usually on the freeway, where freeway speeds are a lot of times the factors,” Austin Prince, division chief with Rural Metro fire, said. ” It doesn’t really mesh well with wet pavement, so we’ve definitely seen an increase in crashes.”

For the Oregon Department of Transportation, spokesperson Matt Noble said it saw a number of winter driving incidents – some serious.

“I think this was the largest, most widespread weather we’ve seen so far this year,” Noble said. “We received reports of pop-outs which are small amounts of rocks, earth, dirt or other material. They’ll pop out of the side of the hill, roll down and create a hazard.”

Despite the hazards, Noble noted that there weren’t any car related incidents as a result.

Agencies are reminding everyone to ensure they are prepared ahead of future winter storms, such as carrying chains and emergency kits.

For the latest road conditions, you can always check Tripcheck for Oregon, and QuickMap for California.