Winter Puts On a Chilly Finale : Front Brings Rain, Hail, Snow
Rain, hail and even some snow fell in the Southland Monday as an unstable cold front moved rapidly in from the ocean, to remind everyone that winter’s lease has not quite expired.
Snow briefly whitened the San Gabriel Mountains and parts of Glendale, Sunland, La Crescenta, La Canada Flintridge and Pasadena, as well as the Antelope Valley.
Except in the foothills, the snow was mostly slush and melted away quickly.
Buena Park Rainfall
Despite earlier forecasts that the rain would not come along until Monday evening, showers began during the morning and--after a deceptive interlude of sunshine--were followed by an upper-level low-pressure area from the Pacific that, in the early afternoon, brought more rain, along with lightning, thunder, hail and snow.
The storm dumped at little as .09 of an inch at Newport Harbor and as much as .23 of an inch in Buena Park before the clouds parted.
Downtown Los Angeles had reported .12 of an inch by Monday afternoon, bringing the season total to 11.62. Normal rainfall to date is 12.55.
The snow level was expected to lower to about 4,000 feet during the evening.
The dampened pavement brought on the usual rash of freeway collisions, but the California Highway Patrol in Santa Ana said late Monday that none turned out to be particularly serious.
El Toro High of 57
After the afternoon cold front--which kept the downtown Los Angeles temperature from rising above 61 and left usually warm El Toro with a high of 57--moved on through Southern California toward Arizona and Nevada, forecasters looked for breezy, mostly clear weather today and Wednesday as high pressure rebuilds over the region.
In Orange County, it should be slightly warmer, with the highs in the 60s today and Wednesday. The extended outlook was for partly cloudy weather returning Thursday but fair, sunny weather on Friday and Saturday.
Spring, by the way, begins Wednesday.
Times Staff Writers Steve Emmons, George R. Fry and Deborah Hastings contributed to this article.
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