2 Tornadoes, Hail, Hammer Chilly County

A wintry storm ravaged San Diego County for a second day Tuesday, pelting various areas with marble-sized hail, dumping as much as 16 inches of snow in the mountains, and producing a waterspout that damaged homes and leveled greenhouses in Encinitas.

The rain and hail led to numerous traffic accidents throughout the county, and caused the death of an El Cajon man who was injured when his pickup truck skidded on a puddle and went out of control. Robert K. Beveridge, 21, died in surgery at Sharp Memorial Hospital at 3:03 p.m., five hours after his truck hit a tree at the 9000 block of Balboa Avenue. He suffered massive chest injuries.

Most of the storm’s damage occurred in coastal North County, where a tugboat sank in rough seas off Carlsbad and some of the area’s flower crop was damaged by the waterspout, which turned into a small tornado.

Captain Steve Marvin of the Encinitas Fire Department said the waterspout moved onto land about 6:45 a.m. at the 200 block of Neptune Avenue, traveled inland about a mile, and crossed Interstate 5 before it dissipated. Once it touched land, the waterspout officially became a tornado, National Weather Service meteorologists said.

At Neptune Avenue the tornado ripped the roof off a two-story home and dropped it on top of a parked car. Marvin said that another roof was damaged in the 300 block of North Vulcan Avenue. The twister continued down Ocean View Avenue, wreaking havoc on several acres of greenhouses.

Rene Preciado of Encinitas Floral said the tornado “felt like an earthquake” when it tore through two greenhouses. “The sky got real dark and it thundered and lightninged for about 15 minutes before it hit,” Preciado said. “When it hit, the wind and rain came down hard, knocking out the electricity and phone. Then it began hailing.”

Many chrysanthemums were damaged when a hot water pipe burst, spraying hot water on the plants, Preciado said. No employees were reported injured at the damaged nurseries.

Other nurseries that reported extensive greenhouse damage were Nordflor Inc., Hobbs Greenhouses and Mojonnier Enterprises, owned by Assemblywoman Sunny Mojonnier and her husband. Mojonnier’s stepdaughter Jenifer said that 40 greenhouses were damaged. Mojonnier Enterprises was growing Peruvian lilies.

There were no dollar estimates of damage caused by the tornado.

The twister also forced Caltrans to close the slow lane of southbound Interstate 5 for an hour and 45 minutes while workers removed an uprooted tree that was blown onto the freeway.

Oceanside Fire Department officials said that a waterspout also hit that city at 6:30 a.m. The tornado hit in the 1500 block of South Hill Street, taking the roof off the Moorco Company, a heating and air-conditioning firm. There were no estimates of damage and no injuries were reported.

Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Alan Jorgensen said the tugboat Sea Hawk sank a quarter of a mile off Carlsbad at 10:34 a.m. Tuesday. Three crew members were rescued uninjured from the chilly water by a passing boat, Jorgensen said. Coast Guard officials said the tug “flipped” in rough seas and went to the bottom. The tug, owned by American Workboats Co. of Long Beach, was working on an underwater construction project.

Harvey Hastrup, a National Weather Service forecaster at Lindbergh Field, said that thunder, lightning and hail were reported throughout the county. Miramar Naval Air Station reported the biggest hailstones, about half an inch in diameter.

“Hail is unusual, but not rare in this area,” Hastrup said.

In Carlsbad, the Highway Patrol reported a three-vehicle accident caused by the hail. Ronald Catterall, 55, of Vista, was driving west on Palomar Airport Road when he lost control of his motorcycle on the hail-covered road. He was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital by Life Flight helicopter with a broken hip. Catterall’s accident triggered a two-car crash that caused no injures, the Highway Patrol said.

The weather service said the storm will begin to move east today, giving way to clear skies and cold nights and frost in the inland areas. The forecast calls for partly cloudy skies in the morning with a 20% chance of rain. The afternoon should bring a warming trend, but Hastrup said the nights “will be quite cold.” Overnight temperatures for Tuesday were expected to drop to 32 to 40 degrees in the inland areas and 42 to 52 degrees along the coast.

Rainfall was heavy at times Tuesday, inundating several roads in flood-prone Mission Valley. Some of the roads reported under water in the valley were Camino del Rio, Mission Center Road, Stadium Way and Fashion Valley Road. Camino del Rio was closed for a while by a mudslide in Normal Heights, where a massive fire in July burned off vegetation on canyon slopes.

The National Weather Service reported that 0.90 of an inch of rain fell at Lindbergh Field Tuesday, bringing the storm total to 1.73 inches and the season total to 2.22 inches.

Heavy snowfall was reported in San Diego County mountains for the second day in a row. Lowell Garvin, an employee at the Mt. Laguna Recreation Area, reported 16 inches of snow at the mountain’s 6,000-foot level. Garvin said it snowed all night Monday and all day Tuesday. Most of the roads leading to the mountain were impassable, but authorities kept Sunrise Highway open, Garvin said.

Snow was reported above the 5,000-foot level throughout the county, including Palomar Mountain, where chains were still required Tuesday. In Julian, a Sheriff’s Department dispatcher reported eight inches of snow on the ground from an “off and on” snowstorm that also caused periodic power outages.

A San Diego Gas & Electric spokesman said that power was restored to most of the 100,000 customers who were without power at one time or another on Monday and Tuesday. By Tuesday, power had been restored to all but a few homes in the county’s North Coast area.