Chad Lundquist/Nevada Appeal Christine L. Jones, 54, of Silver Springs, makes a phone call while waiting to collect her belongings after a gust of wind caused her to lose control and flip her car. Her daughter-in-law suffered a head injury and was taken from the scene in Washoe Valley by helicopter Monday.
A Silver Springs woman was injured in a rollover in Washoe Valley on Monday after her mother-in-law lost control in the high winds.
Gloria Ann Cottle, 35, suffered a head injury and was taken by helicopter from the scene five miles north of Bellevue Bridge about 3:20 p.m.
According to Trooper J.P. Mulnar, Cottle was the passenger in a southbound 1999 Subaru Legacy driven by Christine L. Jones, 54, when a gust of wind pushed the Subaru into the left center lane on Highway 395.
Mulnar said the driver overcorrected and swerved back and forth across the lanes before striking a marker and overturning. The vehicle then traveled nearly 250 feet on its roof, he said.
"I'm never taking this road on a windy day again," said Jones, who suffered an abrasion on her forehead but was otherwise fine. "I never thought the wind could get this bad."
Winds in the valley were estimated at 20 mph with gusts of up to 34 mph at the time of the accident. For most of Monday the highway was closed to big rigs and trailers.
About 3:30 p.m., an accident at Highway 395 and Old 395 involved three vehicles with at least three injuries. The names of those involved in that accident were not available.
According to Trooper Chuck Allen the driver of a Ford Ranger was attempting to turn left onto the highway from Old 395 when he failed to see a southbound P.T. Cruiser.
The two vehicles met in the intersection, and the Cruiser was shoved into a van waiting in the turn lane to head south on Old 395.
A woman in the Cruiser was flown to a Reno hospital, two others in the vehicle were taken by ambulance to Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center.
This week's forecast
Monday's winds, which caused at least one accident in Washoe Valley and had fire crews scrambling in the Carson River Canyon and near Wadsworth to keep wildland fires contained to less than one acre, will continue today.
By Wednesday morning, expect light precipitation as a fast-moving, low-pressure system will dive south out of the Gulf of Alaska, hitting western Nevada Wednesday night into Thursday morning. A foot or more snow is possible in the mountains, and snow levels will drop to the valley floor Wednesday night.
By Friday, things will quiet down a bit. But another system is expected to move in Saturday, bringing showers in the afternoon through Sunday morning.
This should clear by Sunday afternoon.
Temps will range between a low of 27 Thursday and high on the low end of 46 also on Thursday, with highs the rest of the days reaching near 60. Otherwise, lows should stay in the mid-30s to upper-40s.
Source: Gina Beninato, meteorologist, National Weather Service in Reno