Johnny Lim / AP
This photo provided by Johnny Lim shows a snow covered northbound I-15 in the Cajon Pass between the San Bernardino Mountains and the San Gabriel Mountains in Southern California on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2019.
Published Thursday, Dec. 26, 2019 | 12:53 p.m.
Updated Friday, Dec. 27, 2019 | 10:50 a.m.
Interstate 15, which was closed in both directions from Baker, Calif., to Primm because of ice and accidents, has been fully reopened, according to the California Department of Transportation.
Crews worked Friday morning to remove three feet of snow and ice, officials said.
On Thursday, a winter storm prompted authorities to close Interstate 15 at Primm for several hours, but the freeway was reopened by about 1 p.m., the Nevada Highway Patrol reported.
The road was shut down again about 4 p.m. Thursday.
In California, the closure of Interstate 5 that began Christmas night continued in the mountains north of Los Angeles on the notorious Grapevine section of the key highway through towering Tejon Pass.
“Last night, roadway temperatures dropped into the single digits causing miles of roadway to freeze," the California Highway Patrol office explained in a tweet. It said Caltrans has been working tirelessly to thaw the ice before escorting traffic as a safe speed.
In the inland region to the east, the Cajon Pass section of Interstate 15 reopened after being closed for many hours.
Adding to the traffic misery, accidents caused massive morning backups on icy State Route 14, a major commuter route between Los Angeles and high desert cities in the snow-blanketed Antelope Valley. Other high desert routes had similar problems.
In Arizona, rain and snow made roads and highways slick in a broad area stretching from Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon in the north to southeastern Arizona, including the desert along Interstate 10 east of Benson.
In California, I-5 rises to more than 4,100 feet (1,250 meters) in Tejon Pass between Los Angeles and the San Joaquin Valley, making it susceptible to storm closures, especially on the steep section known as the Grapevine.
Cajon Pass rises to more than 3,700 feet (1,128 meters) between the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains on I-15, which also carries commuter traffic in addition to people traveling between southern Nevada and Southern California's cities.
The National Weather Service said the cold low pressure system that brought heavy rain and snow to Southern California was over Arizona on Friday and continuing to move east.
Moisture wrapping around the low continued to bring some snow showers in the mountains i n Southern California but that was expected to end.
Dry and warmer weather was expected in Southern California through most of the weekend. Another cold, low-pressure system was forecast to bring precipitation late Sunday through Monday before a drying trend sets in on New Year's Eve.
Las Vegas Sun reporter Ricardo Torres-Cortez and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
