Saturday, December 26, 2015

Wildfire closes highways 101 and 1, and spurs evacuations along California coast

  1. A 1,200-acre brushfire driven by fierce overnight winds forced mandatory evacuations in Solimar Beach north Ventura on Saturday, closing the 101 freeway in both directions. The fast-moving blaze blackened the mountains north of the freeway, posing a threat to as many as 35 beachside homes as well as oil and gas fields and coastal railroads.
    Solimar Fire - Ventura County Reporter
  2. Traffic on U.S. Highway 101 and the Pacific Coast Highway -- which run alongside each other on the West Coast -- was closed off in both directions in Ventura County due to what has been labeled the Solimar Fire.

Flames shut famous highways

CNNDec 26 11:24 AM
Parts of two of Southern California's most well-known highways shut down early Saturday due to a wildfire that has burned hundreds of acres and spurred mandatory evacuations, authorities said.

as of 1:22 Pm Saturday pacific time here is a Caltrans report on 101:

Freeway Speed Sensors

Related Links

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Division of Traffic Operations - Road Information - California Highway Information

Check Current Highway Conditions
 

You can also call 1-800.427.7623 for current highway conditions. Mobile

Slow for the Cone
Zone
This highway information is the latest reported as of Saturday, December 26, 2015 at 13:22 .
 
US 101
    [IN THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA]
    IS CLOSED FROM THE JCT OF SR 33 /IN VENTURA/ (VENTURA CO) TO 
THE JCT OF SR 150 /IN CARPINTERIA/ (SANTA BARBARA CO) - DUE TO A 
WILDFIRE - MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO USE AN ALTERNATE ROUTE 

    [IN THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AREA]
    IS CLOSED FROM THE JCT OF SR 33 /IN VENTURA/ (VENTURA CO) TO 
THE JCT OF SR 150 /IN CARPINTERIA/ (SANTA BARBARA CO) - DUE TO A 
WILDFIRE - MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO USE AN ALTERNATE ROUTE 

    [IN THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA]
    NO TRAFFIC RESTRICTIONS ARE REPORTED FOR THIS AREA. 
end quote from:
http://www.dot.ca.gov/cgi-bin/roads.cgi

Unfortunately the best alternate route might be Interstate 5 for long distance travelers because both 1 and 101 are closed. So, as you can see this is really going to be a titantic traffic mess for long distance travelers. Because many people including myself use 101 because it is a more beautiful coastal drive than taking 5 which can be much hotter in the Summer and much colder in the winter than the coastal route.

However, temperatures are very cold for Northern Calfornia right now with a high here of a little over 50 degrees with a low last night of 35 which is very cold for the Northern California coast so this means it was freezing last night almost everywhere inland from here.

For example, Lee Vining on the desert side of the Sierras it is presently 28 degrees. Mt. Shasta is 31 degrees at Saturday at 1:30 pm and even Bakersfield is only 48 degrees right now. and Redding is 50 degrees which is similar to the Northern California coast right now.

Here is Caltrans for interstate 5 which says trailers and high vans and campers might blow over right now during part of the way:

Freeway Speed Sensors

Related Links

Caltrans logo

Division of Traffic Operations - Road Information - California Highway Information

Check Current Highway Conditions
 

You can also call 1-800.427.7623 for current highway conditions. Mobile

Slow for the Cone
Zone
This highway information is the latest reported as of Saturday, December 26, 2015 at 13:33 .

I 5
    [IN THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA]
    NO TRAFFIC RESTRICTIONS ARE REPORTED FOR THIS AREA.

    [IN THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AREA] 
    A HIGH WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FROM THE LOS ANGELES/KERN CO LINE TO
25 MI SOUTH OF BAKERSFIELD /AT LAVAL RD/ (KERN CO) /THE GRAPEVINE/ - 
TRAVEL IS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR CAMPERS, TRAILERS OR PERMIT LOADS 

    A HIGH WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FROM THE KERN/KINGS CO LINE TO THE
FRESNO/MERCED CO LINE - TRAVEL IS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR CAMPERS, TRAILERS OR
PERMIT LOADS    

    [IN THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA]
    NO TRAFFIC RESTRICTIONS ARE REPORTED FOR THIS AREA. 
end quote from:
http://www.dot.ca.gov/cgi-bin/roads.cgi

By the looks of the high winds on the fires from videos this is a very dangerous fire and that looks like it could be very dangerous to roads and properties in Ventura County or wherever the wind is blowing towards at very high speed.

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