{"id":182815,"date":"2026-02-18T10:48:32","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T10:48:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/182815\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T10:48:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T10:48:32","slug":"storm-slicks-kern-county-roads-chp-cites-speeding-in-grapevine-crashes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/182815\/","title":{"rendered":"Storm slicks Kern County roads; CHP cites speeding in Grapevine crashes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 A stormy start to the week brought hazardous driving conditions to parts of Kern County, including the Grapevine, where California Highway Patrol officers responded to several crashes.<\/p>\n<p>CHP Fort Tejon Officer DC Williams said many of the crashes were caused by drivers going too fast for wet roads. \u201cWhen you\u2019re driving that fast and the roads are wet it increases your chances of hydroplaning,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"LiveWxCams021626_frame_119389.png\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/c50c84c0-23ae-4c4d-b1fe-01a50b876126-LiveWxCams021626_frame_119389.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>LiveWxCams021626_frame_119389.png<\/p>\n<p>Drivers traveling through the Grapevine described difficult conditions. Shelly said, \u201cWe are definitely concerned that\u2019s why we are trying to head back to Chino Hills as soon as we can.\u201d Another driver said the commute through the area was challenging: \u201cIt\u2019s pretty bad, flooding up the half of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Strong weather impacting Grapevine, drivers urged to slow down as crashes begin (Photo: CHP Fort Tejon)\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/168f42b0-cd6d-47be-9c34-cce754f276ed-612394824_1287369716751135_9219818878472851681_n.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Strong weather impacting Grapevine, drivers urged to slow down as crashes begin (Photo: CHP Fort Tejon)<\/p>\n<p>While Bakersfield saw a break in the rain, more wet weather is expected. Chief Meteorologist Ilya Neyman said <a href=\"https:\/\/bakersfieldnow.com\/news\/local\/winter-storm-targets-south-valley-deserts-and-mountain-towns-with-wind-rain-and-snow-weather-safety-bakersfield-kern-county-california\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">the system will linger though Thursday, with the biggest concern Tuesday night into Wednesday<\/a>. \u201cThat is when we\u2019re gonna have the lowest snow levels that are gonna be dropping down below the pass level, pass levels at 4000 ft. The I-5, the Grapevine, Lebec, Gorman, Highway 58, the Tehachapi Pass,\u201d Neyman said.<\/p>\n<p>Williams said CHP\u2019s focus during storms is keeping drivers safe, especially if ice begins forming on roadways. If conditions worsen, that could mean escorts or temporary closures. \u201cAs you&#8217;re going between North and Southern California, the majority of the cars aren&#8217;t going to have those winter tires, they&#8217;re going to have those high profile tires that do not do well in wet road conditions or in icy conditions,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"CHP FORT TEJON SNOW FILE.jpg\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/23ea3679-9dcc-4e94-a6f7-88f347ae4f8f-CHPFORTTEJONSNOWFILE.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>CHP FORT TEJON SNOW FILE.jpg<\/p>\n<p>Drivers are urged to be prepared with an alternate route if closures happen, as shutdowns can last hours and, in some cases, up to a day. CHP said it does not anticipate a closure at this time but will continue monitoring conditions closely.<\/p>\n<p>They advise drivers to slow down, plan ahead and if possible postpone their travel plans. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 A stormy start to the week brought hazardous driving conditions to parts of Kern County,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182816,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-182815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}