Continued El Nino-spawned winter storms brought rain and some snow to our Morongo Basin overnight. A jack-knifed big rig closed the Morongo Grade eastbound lanes for about an hour from 4:10 to about 5:10 a.m. this morning. The CHP says both grades are currently open. Some light snow fell, making driving treacherous on roads in the western part of the Morongo Basin, flooding some road crossings at washes, and there was some light snow accumulations of 2 to 3 inches in the higher elevations of Yucca Valley and Pioneertown/Rimrock area. All roads are now open, but drivers are urged to use extreme caution. All the schools were open today and all busses, except routes 2 and 3 in Pioneertown, were running. Some busses were delayed because of road conditions. Local fire departments report that many residents have been stopping by to pick up free sand bags they can fill and use to protect their property from flooding.
