NEWBERRY SPRINGS, CA. (Pain In The Pass) >> Blowing dust caused a pileup of crashes involving at least 10 to 20 vehicles with multiple injuries at this time along a stretch of Interstate 40 Sunday evening. (Photo above is credit by Marina Quintero)
The initial crash happened about 5:41pm on August 13, 2023 on westbound lanes with additional crashes in the eastbound lanes. The pile-up location was about a half mile east of Fort Cady Road on Interstate 40.
With the monsoon weather in the area. A pop-up thunderstorms produce blowing dust causing a brown out over I-40. The downburst winds before the storm caused low visibility on the freeway. The dust comes from vacant desert land. The storm was described as being similar to white-out blizzard conditions.
The stretch of interstate 40, will be closed for several hours following crash. The closure extended through Newberry Springs/ Daggett area where local authorities helped manage traffic that was diverted through old Route 66.
At this time its unknown how many people were taken to local hospitals for injuries ranging from minor to life-threatening.
As of 6pm both directions remained closed until the vehicles were removed from the scene and visibility is better. CHP said no estimated time to be reopen as of 7:45pm.
Update at 9pm westbound lanes were reopen.
Update at 10:30pm one eastbound lane is open.
Additional details were limited at this time. This incident will be under investigation by the California Highway Patrol Barstow Office.
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