[UPDATE 11:22 a.m.: More Crashes] Hailstorm Leads to Multiple Traffic Collisions on 101 Stretch Between North Arcata and McKinleyville
Hail covers Hwy 101 and at least one vehicle is off the road by the onramp from Giuntoli Lane in north Arcata. [Photo from Caltrans Traffic Cam]
The unexpected hailstorm created slick and hazardous driving conditions, catching many motorists off guard and leading to these unfortunate events. According to reports, the incidents ranged from vehicles spinning off the road onto the shoulder, colliding with guardrails, to blocking lanes, and causing significant traffic disruptions.
Emergency services are at the scene, attending to the involved individuals and working to clear the accidents. However, the continuing situation is challenging.Please avoid the area if possible and seek alternative routes. For those who must travel through this section of Highway 101, extreme caution is advised. Reduced speeds, increased following distances, and heightened awareness of road conditions are recommended to prevent further incidents.
Caltrans QuickMap has the latest information. This shows the area about 11:10 a.m.
UPDATE 11:22 a.m.: Two more vehicles have crashed. One is on its roof near the exit to North Bank. The other that occurred on Hwy 255 is an estimated 50 to 60 feet off the road in a pasture
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Near Arcata pea size hail came down. Back porch.
Thank you to the CHP car that drove us all home safely thos morning past my multiple spin outs and wrecks. Highway 101 Indianola turn off to Mckinleyville CA.
Should read multiple spin outs and wrecks. Not “my”. We got home safely as did the big line of trucks and cars thar the CHP was leasing. Hope everyone is OK.
Unexpected? Uh, no. From NWS at 430am this morning: “Showery conditions continue today, bringing small hail to the coast and snow accumulations as they track further inland.” They have also posted numerous “slow down for hail covered roadways” warnings. So, yes it was slippery. Yes the hailstorm came on suddenly. But no, it was not unexpected. Thanks for your hard work Kym and crew.
I think the update should say AM vs PM.
Thanks for keeping us informed. Getting ready to drive from San Francisco to No Hum…
In my defense, I’m so tired that it felt like 11 p.m………..
Seriously, I am so sorry. Fixed now.
You are awesome Kym!!! Hope you will be able to get rest soon. Thank you for all you do keeping us informed
Thank you!
One might be able to judge whether it is AM or PM due to it being daylight in the photo posted along side the article that shows the hail on the highway from the traffic camera on the highway that the article is being written about, I personally can’t remember the last time it was daylight at at any minute between 11pm and 11:59pm. Just saying.
Idiots who continue to drive at or above the speed limit in bad weather conditions deserve little sympathy.
SLOW TF DOWN
Yep. Did you notice, in the top photo, the tire tracks that come off the on-ramp and straight into the #1 lane. Idiots can’t help themselves, “just . . . gotta . . . go . . . fast.”
Noticed the same thing. Most accidents that occur during “unexpected weather conditions” are due to drivers NOT taking reasonable precautions, like, you know, slowing down and paying attention….
Having read your opinion that Mendocino Co is responsible for a number of drug overdoses in jail then see that you blame drivers for accidents in bad weather, both based on no details except it happened, it might be sort of interesting to hear how you arrive at such vehemently expressed assignments of responsibility.
Wow
I mean……wow
It’s not rocket science. Don’t do drugs and overdoses almost never happen. Drive at a safe speed regardless and accidents are rare.
I think you answered your own question with the last word in your comment.
Umm…who else is to blame? The weather wasn’t doing the driving. Are you one of the people that ended up wrecked? These things are caused by people who refuse to be careful.
Ditto
Pretty easy really, if drivers were driving at a speed safe for driving conditions they would not have wrecked.. That speed might necessarily be 0 miles per hour, depending on driving conditions.
I had the same assumption until this last Thursday night. I truly believed that going to fast, and bad drivers in hail, and wet weather conditions was the culprit for most of the accidents. I am humbled by my experience, thankful to be alive, and no longer have a drivable vehicle due to an unexpected skating lesson my Trailblazer and I had as it hit standing hail on the freeway. As I past Sunset Blvd. on the 101N, with no indication of hail or rain driving from Eureka didn’t need my wipers, no wind, a nice little break from the storms….or so I thought. The CHP officer who was there within 2 minutes of my vehicle slip sliding around on marbles, with no grip on the road what-so- ever, he parked to join me in the center divide boggy marshy area, where my vehicle had careened into the steel divide posy and rope. Within a minute there was another vehicle hit the unexpected ice ball rink and was coming straight for us, and then another! The officer had to run out of the way, and I was a deer in headlights still in my car after realizing I had to jump out of my window to exit. Thankfully the two vehicles skated other ways and we were spared. Another Truck quarter of a mile North was stuck in the center divide simultaneously. Moral of the story, I will no longer be making the erroneous assumption that bad driving and speeding is the cause of these incidents, especially in the vast microclimates our region is susceptible to. Also, if even a hint of possible hail storms predicted, I will not be driving.
Well said. That is my experience also.
I’m sorry for your harrowing experience and the loss of your rig. Back in ’96, I escorted my aunt from Sandy Eggo to Bozeman, MT for her mid-life change. It was early January. Montana, Idaho, not sure, the road was straight as an arrow’s path and covered in snow. We were in a 4WD, not all wheel, and she was quite the snow bunny, so, well practiced in those driving conditions. Visibility was akin to Humboldt’s thickest fog as we crept along at a meager 35mph while others flew past us. All of a sudden, the engine revved as the tires started to slip. The truck began a slow pinwheel as the roadside downslope embankment came closer and clearer. We went down backwards and sideways. Fortunately, the slope was gradual and shallow and we remained upright. After letting our hearts slow down, we pried our fingers, she from the steering wheel and I from the oh-shit handles, then started up and ventured off again.
I absolutely agree with you that bad, fast, and/or reckless driving is not always the cause. However, I do firmly believe it is the cause in a majority of the accidents.
I’m glad you fared well, Sage. If there is a greater reason why it happened to you, perhaps it is to just tell your story to those around you. Be safe.
According to some assholes, it’s people who go too slow that cause these accidents because they force the experienced drivers who are confident going faster to slam on their brakes unnecessarily. I’m afraid we’re pretty much done for as a society. Idiocracy only failed to be a documentary inasmuch as it was set much too far in the future. We’re already there.
And sometimes the most experienced formula one drivers wreck due to their over-confidence or boundary testing. In fact, listening to many pro drivers’ interviews over the years, most keep their high speed and needle threading to the track.
You wanna go fast? Samoa dragstrip has several run-what-you-brung days. It was $5 for 3 runs about 10 years ago. I’ve seen daily drivers from Volvo wagons to Caddies to grow-dozers out there.
Or, get a beater and go to Redwood Acres. I seen a few 16 year old girls that could put most of these tough talkin’ highway speedsters to shame.
This is why people in other states always talk shit and make jokes about “California Drivers”. Always going too fast for the conditions.
People bad mouth Californians for a lot of reasons- mostly politics- but driving should not be one of them.
Hope this never happens to you and then realize, accidents aren’t always the fault of the driver. Genuinely, be safe and sound. And some unsolicited advice, consider not falling prey to assumptive thinking and end up learning the hard way in order to get a full perspective beyond initial assumptions. I’m definitely humbled from my experience this week, having the same assumption you have with conviction. Now I feel it important to share in hopes it helps others get educated as to what happens when vehicles hydroplane, what not to do, and help others be more prepared in such situations.
Took Samoa Exit thinking it would be safer. Drove at 40 mph. Impatient driver tailgated then passed us on Samoa bridge, crossing double-yellow to do so. I guestimate they were doing at least 55. Sheesh . . .
you where doing the right thing
not positive where this is but it sure af doesn’t look like giuntoli
Here is an image from the same camera now. It looks south but is situated north of Giuntoli and south of North Bank.
Crash in the afternoon… by the Samoa Blvd exit… southbound.
6 LEO cars were there… was a small ‘compact’ car upside down in the roadside ditch… submerged in water up to the rear window. Hope the driver got out ok.
Imagine they did as no LEO’s were swimming.
I remember that a car was found completely submerged in a ditch a little south of the West End Road bridge. Driver was still in it… he had been missing for months.
Have driven in ‘hail’ a lot.
Step 1… Slow down.
Step 2… Find a place to (safely) get off the road.
Step 3… Watch the other cars wreck.
I drove through there this morning right about 10:30 on our way back from Crescent City. Just cruising along about 68, when all of a sudden it just started dumping hail and the road got really slippery. I just backed off the gas and started gently pumping the brakes till we were going about 30. There weren’t any accidents yet but I knew there would be. It was that sudden.
My 12 year old daughter started freaking out> She thought we were going to crash and die. Afterwards I explained to her that you just have to stay calm and slow down. I have to admit I puckered up a bit but I didn’t let her know that lol
I’ll never forget driving my new born baby home from Mad River hospital. It had started snowing about 1 hour before we left the hospital. In between the hospital and Eureka We witnessed at least 6 cars going off the freeway into the center divide. Yet people were still driving in excess of 60 miles an hour in small cars on a snow-covered freeway.. It’s absolutely amazing how oblivious people can be to their surroundings.
Nothing better than crazy ass drivers playing bumper cars on the freeway covered with hail.
An “unexpected” hail storm? It’s been raining and hailing off and on for days. Driving in hail is the equivalent to driving on ball bearings or marbles! Should you not have the sense to pull over, you shouldn’t be driving at all…