S. California Raked by Storm Front; 5,000 Are Stranded in Desert

A turbulent storm front lashed out at Southern California as it trekked eastward Thursday, touching off heavy thunderstorms in coastal areas, snow in the mountains and stranding about 5,000 visitors in Death Valley because of flooded highways.

All of this, forecasters said, was caused by a slow-moving, low-pressure area that was pushed inland from the Pacific on Wednesday and Thursday. By this morning the front was expected to be centered over southern Nevada.

But the weather experts also had some good news, predicting clearing skies today and a sunny weekend before the next weather system, which could move in early in the week.

The skies opened up Thursday over widely varied sections of the Southland, producing spectacular thunder and lightning displays one minute, then equally spectacular rainbows as the clouds parted during breaks in the rain.

Hard hit was the vast, usually arid, Death Valley National Monument area, where heavy rains closed three state highways--California 190, 178 and 127--because of flooding, authorities said.

About 5,000 visitors were stranded in the Furnace Creek area as the afternoon thunderstorms rolled in from the west, National Monument information officer Ross Hopkins said. All were considered in no danger, he said.

Among those stranded were 80 horsemen on a ride to the monument from Ridgecrest in Kern County, 18 high school students who could not get home to Furnace Creek from their school in Shoshone, 65 miles away. The students were spending the night with faculty members, school officials said.

And the area’s resident California Highway Patrol officer, David Fleger, was reported stuck on a road inside the national monument. But he was in radio communication with authorities, Hopkins said.

Most of the others left stranded spent the night in their cars or in hotel lobbies, Hopkins said.

Many of the 5,000 visitors had come to the area for this weekend’s annual Death Valley Encampment, the biggest outdoors event of the year in the region, officials said.

Hopkins reported that .61 of an inch of rain--an almost unheard-of amount for one day in the area--fell Thursday, bringing the season’s total in Death Valley to 2.72 inches. Normal for this time of year is 1.77 inches.

“If it rains any more here, we’ll have to start thinking about an ark,” Hopkins said.

The roads were expected to be passable after the rains subside, authorities said.

Locally, the storm also was troublesome in the foothill communities of the San Gabriel Valley, where the National Weather Service issued a special advisory Thursday afternoon warning of heavy thunderstorms and gusty winds up to 35 m.p.h. But no problems were reported by authorities.

Several waterspouts--tornado funnel clouds that touch water--were spotted during the day from Oxnard to San Clemente, but no damage was reported. Observers at LAX said one touched the ocean’s surface about five miles from the airport at 9:30 a.m. but dissipated about 10 minutes later.

The accumulation of rain on the roof of a Compton warehouse caused it to collapse Thursday afternoon and an estimated 60 workers inside the building escaped injury. There was no immediate damage estimate to the Toys ‘R Us warehouse at 601 W. Carob St., Compton fire officials said.

At the Los Angeles Civic Center, .34 of an inch of rain had fallen by late Thursday, bringing the storm’s total to .85. The two days’ rainfall brought the season’s total to 3.32 inches, far above last season’s total on Nov. 5 of 2.68, the weather service said. The normal total of rain for this date is .82.

Other rainfall amounts in the Los Angeles area included .41 at the airport; .83 in Beaumont; .49 in Culver City; .72 in El Toro; .63 in Lancaster; .19 in Long Beach; 1.30 in Monrovia; .71 in Newport Beach; .80 in Pasadena; 1.26 in San Bernardino; .26 in Santa Barbara, and .73 in Woodland Hills.

Thursday’s high at the Civic Center reached a chilly 63 degrees after an overnight low of 57. Relative humidity ranged from 63% to 84%.

Los Angeles and Death Valley were not the only place where heavy thunderstorms struck.

Northern San Diego County was swamped with heavy afternoon rains, but authorities said the deluge only produced a higher number of traffic accidents.

1.10 Inches in San Diego

San Diego recorded 1.10 inches of rain in a 24-hour period, which led to heavy street flooding in some areas and numerous brief power outages.

Southern California mountain regions all reported snow, with as much as six inches reported at levels above 7,000 feet. However, ski resort operators all agreed they would need up to 18 inches more before the slopes will be ready to open.

To the east in Las Vegas, where the brunt of Thursday’s storm had yet to reach, several thunderstorms raked the area, dumping hail the size of golf balls in some areas and bringing the total rainfall for the week to more than two inches. Streets were briefly flooded with up to three feet of water in some intersections in the western part of the city, but no major damage was reported.

In Southern California, forecasters said mostly fair skies should prevail this weekend with temperatures reaching the 70s by Sunday.

Mike Smith, a forecaster with WeatherData, which provides forecasts for The Times, said the warm, clear skies should stick around until early next week.

“After Tuesday, I’m not so sure,” he said, hinting there was a chance of more precipitation from another storm building in the north Pacific. “But it also may miss L.A. altogether.”

There was this weekend note of caution from the weather service: Night temperatures could be a little chillier, dipping into the 50s in some places, including the inland valleys.

Power Restored

Meanwhile, utility crews restored power to the last of the 27,000 customers who lost electricity in Wednesday’s rains.

David Barron of Southern California Edison Co. said the remaining 5,000 homes and businesses that went without power overnight had service restored shortly after noon Thursday.

And Los Angeles police identified the couple who were killed Wednesday afternoon when a pickup truck hydroplaned across the center line in a heavy downpour and hit their Volkswagen head on in the 8600 block of West La Tuna Canyon Road in Sunland. They were M. Paul Costantini and his wife, Dorcas, both 66, of Tujunga.

Times staff writer Nieson Himmel contributed to this article.

THE RAIN: 24-hour total: 0.34 in. Monthly total: 0.85 in. Total for season: 3.32 in. Last season to date: 2.68 in. Normal season to date: 0.82 in.