California Highway Conditions

California's Highway 166 from Guadalupe to Mettler with special guest Franklin D. Roosevelt
I may not shoot anymore of these until spring or when the days get longer again; even in this one I was racing against the sunset again. If you notice the date it that I shot it you'd know I couldn't have been any closer to the Winter Solstice than had I shot it at night. I changed a few things in the one too. I zoomed the camera out past my dash so you no longer see the hood of the truck. I'm not sure if I like it that way or not, but I tried it. Also, some of you might note that this is SR 166 again. Yeah, it is. This time I am traveling east bound from Guadalupe, CA at Pacific Coast (PCH) Highway 1 to the other end at Highway 99 near Mettler, CA. It ties in well with my want of filming the whole of a Highway rather than just segments. I did something a little different with the editing this time too. I had the idea of cutting in some clips from famous speeches. Originally, I thought it would be nice to add speeches about the New Deal and the WPA as these policies directly affected many of the roads and highways across this nation. Then I stumbled across the First Inaugural Address by Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR). This is the famous one with fear of fear itself line. But, it really spoke to me personally and I feel it may offer comfort to many others out there now that are struggling in the US economy by letting them know that we've been worse off before and we survived. Filmed and edited by: Justin Jennings Shot on December 20, 2011 Filmed with a Nikon Coolpix L100 and ...

LA Rain Radiation Over Five Times Normal
An imperfect storm swept into Southern California on, perhaps appropriately enough, April Fools weekend creating the conditions that tested EnviroReporter.com's scientific hypothesis that radioactive "buckyballs" and other fission radionuclides from the triple Fukushima Japan meltdowns are already impacting the region. Sure enough, a rain composed primarily of sea mist formed over a choppy ocean with high winds tested higher than any other Los Angeles Basin rain since Radiation Station Santa Monica began fallout radiation tests March 15, 2011, four days after the unabated meltdowns began. The rain, not impacted by so-called "natural" radon progeny, came in at a whopping 506% above normal, more than high enough to qualify as a hazardous material situation for the California Highway Patrol. This is the hottest LA rain detected with our Inspector Alert nuclear radiation monitor in the over 1500 radiation tests we've taken since last year's Ides of March.

March 2012: After The Rain Storm, Central California USA
As strong as the storm was, it didn't cause flooding in Tulare County or a lot of other major problems beyond some fallen power lines and a report of a tree that ended up leaning against a house The storm swept across California but it hit heaviest in the Valley. Besides the rain, initial estimates are that the storm dropped 1-4 inches of snow on the Tulare County portion of the Sierra, with snow reported falling as low as 2000 feet in some areas, Snow on Highway 198 over the summit between Coalinga and King City prompted its closure for about two hours because of icy conditions. Icy roads also resulted in the California Highway Patrol escorting cars Saturday night and Sunday morning along Interstate 5 through the Grapevine. The storm did generate a low-grade tornado a, 12 miles southeast of the town of Tranquility, near Mendota. www.visaliatimesdelta.com

Excellent Traffic Management under extreme mountain slide conditions on Interstate 75
Only two main detours are available to send traffic around the mountain slide on Interstate 75 between Jellico and Caryville. Due to heavy fog on the morning of 16 May 2012 a truck overturned on a highway 25W sharp curve. When you consider the amount of traffic and the small choices for detour the TDOT has done an excellent job routing traffic. I drove north on 25W this morning and the traffic coming south was heavy. I wanted to get some video of the truck accident, but I did-not have sufficient space to park my automobile on the narrow road. A California man died this morning in northern Campbell County. Trooper Anthony Lay with the Tennessee Highway Patrol explains to www.1450wlaf.com that 56-year old Michael Eugene Simmons of San Diego died when his late model Freightliner went over an embankment at 3;45 am The report reads that Simmons was negotiating a curve with the 18-wheeler on Highway 25W at Morley when the truck left the roadway and struck a guardrail. Simmons died upon impact when the big rig overturned down an embankment. Lay says that Simmons' partner, 44-year old David Cardwell of Los Angeles, was resting in the sleeper and suffered non-life threatening injuries. The truck was loaded with shirts and came to a rest against a tree near Chaska Lane. The accident occurred about 200 yards south of my video location at 0 to 0:56

South Main Divide Road off CA-74 E / Ortega Hwy Lake Elsinore, CA
There is this road...Leaving Hell's Kitchen head Northeast on CA-74 E/Ortega Hwy - turn right on South Main Dv. Heck of a great view of Lake Elsinore with nice scenary in the Cleveland National Forest. This road with a few twists and turns takes you to De Luz and Fallbrook. This is not the best road for a large group ride. About 10 min into the ride the road conditions change.

2012 Hail Hail Hail, Central California
As strong as the storm was, it didn't cause flooding in Tulare County or a lot of other major problems beyond some fallen power lines and a report of a tree that ended up leaning against a house The storm swept across California but it hit heaviest in the Valley. Besides the rain, initial estimates are that the storm dropped 1-4 inches of snow on the Tulare County portion of the Sierra, with snow reported falling as low as 2000 feet in some areas, Snow on Highway 198 over the summit between Coalinga and King City prompted its closure for about two hours because of icy conditions. Icy roads also resulted in the California Highway Patrol escorting cars Saturday night and Sunday morning along Interstate 5 through the Grapevine. The storm did generate a low-grade tornado a, 12 miles southeast of the town of Tranquility, near Mendota.

Lots Of Car Crashes All Over Modesto, California - Modesto News
This morning was a dangerous time to be on the road in Modesto, California with people crashing into each other all around town. Modesto News .org hit the streets this morning to bring you this footage and to tell you what happened. We made it out to 8 vehicle collisions, all before noon... On this bright and sunny day with perfect driving conditions. This vehicle versus pedestrian collision on 17th and H, this two car crash on McHenry and Rumble, this car versus bus crash on 9th, this hit and run on Highway 99, this two car crash on 17th and I, this fender bender on Coffee and Scenic, this crash on Sisk, and this crash at the intersection of Parry and Roble. Modesto News .org spoke with a Modesto Police Department detective who said that surprisingly this amount of collisions in a morning is not all that uncommon. What was out the of ordinary however, is how many of them involved injuries. The reason for this is simply a unknown. Modesto News .org also spoke with CHP Officer Wright who needs your help finding the hit and run suspect from this crash on Highway 99. Now, altho several people were injured this morning in these collisions luckily non of the injuries were life threatening. www.ModestoNews.org All Rights Reserved - Copyright 2011

Highway 2, April 22 2012
Road conditions on CA Highway 2 last weekend. A few rocks and a bit of snowmelt, but roads were generally good.