GARDINER — An odd wave of light snow aimed at the Dungeness Valley and Gardiner areas from the northeast left roads slippery enough for at least 16 cars to lose control Sunday.
In the foothills above the Sequim area, six vehicles slid into ditches off Taylor Cutoff Road and Lost Mountain Road, said Clallam County Sheriff’s Chief Criminal Deputy Ron Cameron.
No one was injured, but Taylor Cutoff was temporarily closed while sand trucks made their way to the scene.
An additional 10 vehicles slid off U.S. Highway 101 between 10 a.m. and noon Sunday, said State Patrol Trooper Eric Ellefson.
No one was injured in those wrecks either.
All the spinouts occurred on U.S. 101 between Milepost 155 near Kitchen-Dick Road and Milepost 177 in Gardiner.
The county line is at Milepost 175, Ellefson said.
“It warmed up in the later morning, but once it did that, it was wet while it was melting, and that is why a lot of people were going off the road,” Ellefson said.
Most of the people going off the road were considered “non-reportable” — insignificant enough that state troopers don’t write a report.
One exception was a wreck at Milepost 177 near Gardiner in which an eastbound pickup truck crossed the centerline and hit the ditch on the westbound lane and overturned.
Nobody was hurt in that incident, troopers said.
“The whole time these were occurring, [the state Department of Transportation] was plowing, so there wasn’t a whole lot we could do to prevent these,” Ellefson said.
“One major contributing factor that people should look at is bald tires — that was a factor in a lot of these.”
Forks, which had only a trace of snow, had no issues, Mayor Bryon Monohon said.
“There was really only a superficial sheen of ice,” Monohon said.
Port Angeles also had no weather-related issues, said Port Angeles Police Sgt. Glen Roggenbuck.
In Jefferson County, Sheriff Tony Hernandez said there were no issues on county roads.
Sequim had the most snow with about 3 inches, said Dennis D’Amico, meteorologist for the National Weather Service.
Port Angeles had about a half-inch in places, with Port Townsend and Quilcene receiving approximately 1 inch, D’Amico said.
He said very few weather spotters had called in on Sunday to report snowfall in Jefferson County.
Today should be clear with dry, cold air moving in, he said.
“It will be a little chilly, but at least sunny on Monday and Tuesday,” D’Amico said.
He said a “tricky forecast” for the North Olympic Peninsula calls for more snow Tuesday with Port Angeles and Sequim hit the hardest and Forks spared much of the weather — a sort of “reverse rain shadow effect,” he said.
The snow in Port Angeles and Sequim is likely to turn to rain Wednesday, while areas along the Hood Canal — including Quilcene and Brinnon — might be hit the hardest throughout the day Wednesday.
“It is a really tricky system,” he said.
“Really we will just have to wait and see.”
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
