More Rain Squalls Forecast for Today

The rain squalls that pummeled the Los Angeles Basin on Thursday afternoon are expected to continue today, but forecasters said the Pacific storm system should move off into northern Mexico by tonight, with fair and warmer weather for the weekend.

As much as an inch of rain may fall in some sections of the metropolitan area before the chilly, wind-swept storm departs, and up to 10 inches of snow was predicted at some resort areas in the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains above 5,000 feet.

The rain forced the postponement of the California Angels baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Anaheim--only the 14th rain-out in Angel history--and snarled traffic throughout the metropolitan area, triggering accidents that claimed at least one life.

“It’s a mess,” California Highway Patrol Officer Kirk Clerico reported at 5 p.m. “We’ve got 65 or 70 accidents in the Los Angeles area. That’s almost three times as many as normal.”

Thomas Elder, 43, of Agoura was killed when his car skidded out of control on wet pavement on the Ventura Freeway in the Agoura area and was struck broadside by another car, the CHP said. The driver of the other car, George Valdez, 53, of Simi Valley, was hospitalized with multiple injuries.

A total of .15 of an inch of rain had fallen on the Los Angeles Civic Center by 5 p.m. Thursday as the main force of the storm moved onshore. Other early evening totals included 1.72 inches at Mt. Wilson, .71 of an inch at Santa Barbara, .60 in Woodland Hills, .39 in Pasadena, .31 in Monrovia, .29 in Santa Monica, .25 at San Gabriel, .24 at Los Angeles International Airport and .11 in Santa Ana.

Forecasters said the storm, which brought the first measurable precipitation to downtown Los Angeles in more than six weeks, still probably is not enough to make a significant break in the prolonged dry spell that has hastened the arrival of the fire season this year.

The rainfall total for the season had climbed to only 9.22 inches by Thursday afternoon, almost five inches short of normal for the date.

Dan Bowman, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times, said the storm system started out as routine weather disturbance in the Gulf of Alaska that gathered strength as it moved south.

But unlike its predecessors, which have been detoured east for a month and a half by a high-pressure ridge over Northern California, “this one was strong enough to blast right through” and continue on down the coast to Southern California, Bowman said.

The storm generated a funnel cloud over the Santa Maria Valley on Thursday afternoon, but the cloud did not touch ground and there were no reports of damage. The National Weather Service issued a special waterspout bulletin at dusk after one was reported near Anacapa Island at about 6:30 p.m.

“I think we’ll see some pretty substantial rain, some locally heavy showers, especially along the foothills,” Bowman said. “There’ll be some pretty good snow above 5,000 feet. There’ll be a little thunder and lightning and some gusty winds, with gusts up to 40 m.p.h. near the thunderstorms.

The high temperature at the Civic Center on Thursday was only 61 degrees, barely five degrees above the overnight low, with relatively high humidity--ranging between 67% and 87%--that made it feel even chillier than that.

The temperatures and humidity should be similar today, Bowman said, but with clearing skies on Saturday and Sunday, thermometer readings at the Civic Center should climb at least as high as the low 70s.