Tank Truck Spills Oil on I-805 as Rain Brings Mishaps

Roads slick from intermittent showers, which are expected to last through Sunday, contributed to several San Diego-area auto accidents Thursday morning, the California Highway Patrol reported.

At 7:55 a.m., a tanker truck jackknifed on Interstate 805 southbound near Mira Mesa Boulevard after a car entering the freeway struck the front axle of the tanker.

The tanker trailer unhitched and ended nose down, spilling 700 gallons of petroleum over the southbound lanes. Firefighters used sand barriers and plastic wading pools to contain the spill.

Cynthia Mullen, 18, the driver of the car, was injured and was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital-La Jolla for observation.

Arrival of a Cold Front

Firefighters from San Diego, Del Mar and Solana Beach aided in cleaning up the spill. There were no injuries to the truck driver.

About 14 vehicles were involved in four separate fender-benders on California 163 between 6 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. No serious injuries were reported, the CHP said.

A collision of another sort seems to be the cause of the rains.

Chill air from an Alaskan cold wave traveling down California in a low-pressure system has collided with warm air coming up from Mexico, causing periodic light rains that are expected to last through Sunday, the National Weather Service said.

Forecasters predict a 30% to 40% chance of showers this weekend. Otherwise, it will be partly cloudy and breezy at times, with cool temperatures.

“I don’t think it will be a bad weekend,” forecaster Wilbur Shigehara said. “But you can’t rule out the showers. The rain we get should be small rains, so it’s not going to be too dismal.”

Stagnant Pattern

This stagnant pattern of light rains will not change much until early next week, when a heavy storm headed this way from Hawaii is expected to hit, Shigehara said.

Temperatures today through Sunday are expected to range from 55 to 60 degrees. Nighttime lows for the coastal strip will be 47 to 50. Inland, nightly temperatures will drop to 40 to 50 degrees.

The mountains will have highs of 35 to 40 degrees, with lows of 25 to 30. The northern cold air has lowered the snow level to 5,000 to 6,000 feet.

Deserts are expecting highs in the 60s, with lows in the high 30s and low 40s.

The surf will be 2 to 4 feet, with water temperature at 54 degrees.