UPDATE 3:10 p.m. —- There have been a number of collisions across Mendocino County (and Humboldt and Lake counties) since this article was initially published, many due to the slick condition of the roads due to the ongoing rain — at least 9 or 10 and maybe more. Several of these accidents have been single-car collisions resulting in trips to the hospital, although no fatalities have been reported, and emergency responders across the county are responding quickly to the ongoing calls. As of now, all traffic is still moving and there are no current road closures, but you can check the CHP current incident page and the CalTrans QuickMap road conditions page to see if all is clear on your route.
Additional stormy weather, including potential flash floods, high winds, and high volumes of rain are expected through Thanksgiving, so stay alert and safe on this busy travel day. The California Highway Patrol is also conducting a “Maximum Enforcement Period” for the Thanksgiving holiday, so there will be additional law enforcement officers on the road.
Be careful out there everyone.
WILLITS, 11/21/18 — It’s the day before Thanksgiving, one of the busiest travel days of the year, and it’s also one of the first heavy rains of the season, meaning, of course, that there are currently multiple car accidents across Mendocino County, and that we can expect some number of crashes through the rest of the day.
Currently there is a one car roll over on Hwy. 20, west of Willits, near Irmulco Rd. An ambulance has been sent to the location, and it appears that at least one person is trapped in the car.
There is an accident on Hwy. 101 near the Calpella exit. Apparently a one car spin roll over, that might also be an injury crash, and an ambulance has been sent.
There is a lot of scanner chatter right now, and some of the details might be mixed up, but it appears that in the Calpella crash the occupants of the vehicle were a pregnant woman and a young child. It does not appear that there are major injuries in this crash.
Additionally, there was a crash at the top of Oil Well Hill, on Hwy. 101 north of Willits. And while we were writing this another spin out crash occurred on Hwy. 20 along the north shore of Lake Mendocino, east of Hwy. 101. This accident also appears to be a single car spin out, in which a brown SUV may have struck some trees.
As far as we can tell none of these accidents were fatalities.
This Thanksgiving, as with all Thanksgivings, we’re thankful for our readers. So we want to urge all our readers to be careful on the roads today, while traveling, or just commuting around town. Tomorrow is foretasted to be an extremely heavy rain day, with perhaps 3 inches of rain in one day in Willits.
Stay safe out there.
Not mentioned was the fatal accident on Hwy 101 at Hwy 1 in north Leggett about 2:pm on Wednesday.