BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) -- The atmospheric river is back in Bakersfield, and so is the danger that comes with it, but DC Williams with the California Highway Patrol never left. "It's gonna be the same message we always put out there when you're driving in inclement weather, to slow down," sai d Officer Williams. A white pickup truck wrapped around a concrete pillar off eastbound Highway 178 at 7:30 a.m., at the Bernard Street overpass on Thursday. The driver was sent to the hospital with major injuries. Now, another storm and blast of winter is dusting the Kern County mountains and the Grapevine. Officer Williams says to exit if you run into trouble on the road. "When it's weather like this, your safest place is to get off the freeway," said Williams. "Some place where you're not going to have the possibility of getting struck by a vehicle that's spinning out of control." The inclement weather is also bringing good news to the Central Valley. In April 2024, more than 15% of the contiguous United States was in a moderate to exceptional drought including Kern County, according to the National Weather Service. The recent storms have moved most of Kern County into the lowest drought category. "I don't think it's a drought buster completely, but every drop counts, and this is more than an inch for much of the valley. This is fantastic news," said 17 News Meteorologist, Elaina Rusk. CHP escorting traffic as rain, hail make for poor driving conditions through the Grapevine Another storm is expected Monday, March 17. Meteorologists call it the Miracle in March even though it rained more two years ago, according to David Spector, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. "This January 2025 was bone dry," said Rusk. "February had some good recovery. March is a great recovery. So, it's definitely a miracle March, even if it's not as miraculous as previous miracle Marches have been." More snow is expected to fall in the Kern County mountains, the Grapevine Friday, and another storm is on the way Monday, but we'll have to wait for the data to see a dent in the drought. "So, we could see a lot of this snow, we want to hold onto just sloughing off," said Rusk. "It could be really dangerous in the backcountry. Also, this is warmer weather so it could melt. The faster it melts the more it runs off and we can't grab it for the summer." ...read more read less