As I write this at 1 AM Saturday morning on the coast it is presently 39 degrees Fahrenheit here.
I woke up Friday Morning and got ready to go along with my daughter. Her husband was flying in from the East Coast but we needed to get to the SF Bay area for a Birthday for a close relative. So, we left around noon on Friday. I figured that that late I could get past San Luis Obispo that late in the day without hitting snow on the grade on 101 between San Luis Obsipo and Atascadero. Luckily, this was true.
However, the Grapevine (INterstate 5 through the mountains into the Los Angeles area from the San Joaquin Valley) had closed because of several feet of snow. And through it is a freeway you likely would die on some of those up and down stretches if you were in the snow (for most people) (Unless they had chains and all wheel drives or 4 wheel drives). and most people living in Southern California don't need that 364 days of the year so they just mostly have front wheel drive cars like many other places it doesn't usually snow.
So, as a direct result the only Good way from Los Angeles north open was Highway 101. As we got onto Highway 101 which is a 4 lane highway sort of like a freeway north from Los Angeles to San Francisco. So, it is an alternate route to San Francisco, Sacramento, or even Portland or Seattle if you take the 101 to Paso Robles and then go back out to Interstate 5 on Highway 46. So, because 5 was closed at the Grapevine since 2 AM early in the morning Friday from several feet of snow it makes sense that everyone from San Diego to Seattle who wanted to drive this route had to take Highway 101 because it was one of the few routes open and it would likely be warm enough to work and not snow right along the ocean where it goes a lot of the way until it goes inland at Pismo Beach and SAn Luis Obispo.
When we first saw 101 Backing up and people driving slowly was at the top of the grade past San Luis Obispo before we got to Atascadero. And it was backed up for miles and miles heading south from Paso Robles we found. And most of this time it was cloudbursting wherever we were in rain from the time I first checked in Santa Barbara to around San Miguel just past Paso Robles.
At one point I had to get off the phone because it was raining so hard I could no longer see the road as I drove.
Then at about Atascadero, the traffic started to back up and be bumper to bumper north as well all the way to Paso Robles. This basically added another hour to our trip north. The traffic began to clear up by Highway 46 after we passed the exit to Highway 46 which goes to interstate 5.
by San Miguel the heavy rain started to get lighter until by King City it had almost stopped.
Then by Gonzales we started to notice we could see snow on the tallest mountains around us starting at 2000 to 4000 feet. I don't think there is anything above 5 thousand feet though to the east or the west of
101 by the time you get to Salinas.
Also, Interstate 5 appears to still be closed due to even more snow right now as of 1 am Saturday morning:
Road Information
This highway information is the latest reported as of Saturday, February 25th, 2023 at 12:53 AM.
I 5
[IN THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA]
NORTHBOUND TRAFFIC IS REDUCED TO 3 LANES 9.7 MI NORTH OF SANTA CLARITA
/AT TEMPLIN HWY/ (LOS ANGELES CO) - DUE TO A MUDSLIDE
TRAFFIC IS REDUCED TO 3 LANES IN EACH DIRECTION FROM 3 MI NORTH OF THE JCT OF SR 126 /AT PARKER ROAD/ (LOS ANGELES CO) TO THE LOS ANGELES/KERN CO LINE /THE GRAPEVINE/ - DUE TO SNOW
[IN THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AREA]
IS CLOSED FROM THE LOS ANGELES/KERN CO LINE TO 5 MI SOUTH THE JCT OF SR 99
/AT GRAPEVINE RD/ (KERN CO) /THE GRAPEVINE/ - DUE TO SNOW - MOTORISTS ARE
ADVISED TO USE AN ALTERNATE ROUTE
But, since my daughter was driving from about San Miguel I was able to take some snow pictures with my Iphone. I pulled these up on Google images using today as a marker in that area around Salinas:
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