A nearly 50 mile stretch of California's Highway 70 that winds through the Feather River Canyon is closed due to mudslides triggered by thunderstorms in the Dixie Fire burn scar, officials said Sunday.
© CHPA nearly 50 mile stretch of California's Highway 70 that winds through the Feather River Canyon is closed due to mudslides triggered by thunderstorms in the Dixie Fire burn scar, officials said Sunday.
A nearly 50 mile stretch of California's Highway 70 that winds through the Feather River Canyon is closed due to mudslides triggered by thunderstorms in the Dixie Fire burn scar, officials said Sunday.

The closure extends between Jarbo Gap in Butte County and the Greenville Wye in Plumas County, Caltrans said.

The California Highway Patrol is asking drivers to find alternative routes. "There is no estimated time for the road to reopen," CHP said.

CHP spokesperson Andrew Haskins said four separate mudslides poured onto the roadway mainly between Rock Creek Dam and Belden.


"Little sections of the burn scar just kept flowing down," Haskins said. "It was just pouring rain when the slides were coming down."

Two cars got stuck between the mudslides and CHP officers helped walk out the drivers. "Those vehicles will have to be retrieved after the debris cleanup," Haskins said.

While the mudslides are along a stretch of highway that's only a few miles long, the closure had to be extended to wider sections of the highway where cars and trucks can easily turn around.

The mudslides came after the southern edge of a storm system over the Pacific Northwest pushed into Northern California, delivering heavy rain areas north of Sacramento. The National Weather Service said that between 1 to 3 inches of rain fell over portions of Plumas County between noon and 6 p.m. Sunday.