Week in Review : MAJOR EVENTS, IMAGES AND PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY NEWS : AT THE SCENE : Cities Pelted During Unusual Hail Storm

In the northeast, they made snowmen this week. In Orange County, they made “hailmen.”

Four inches of hail, which many residents mistook for snow, pelted Huntington Beach early Wednesday, causing traffic accidents and closing 1 1/2 miles of Pacific Coast Highway for nearly two hours.

The unusual ice storm coated houses, cars and lawns with four inches of hail.

It also caused the closure of the Santa Ana River Bridge, a 300-yard span connecting Huntington Beach with Newport Beach, because a three-inch accumulation of hail Wednesday morning made driving hazardous.

“It was a mess,” said Newport Beach Sgt. Todd Wilkinson, who saw four accidents along a “very slippery” 2 1/2-mile stretch of road near Newland Street as he drove to work.

Although Huntington Beach was the hardest hit, the pellets of ice fell throughout Orange County.

Costa Mesa got several inches of hail--enough to turn mailboxes, cars and streets an icy white, police reported. San Clemente, Garden Grove and Cypress also reported hail. Los Alamitos got a thunderstorm and Laguna Beach got rain.

What became a nuisance for drivers was a source of entertainment for others. One Huntington Beach resident was seen skiing on the closed portion of Pacific Coast Highway while, nearby, others played with the “snow.”