A Bright Sign in Stormy Sky : Rainfall Expected to Continue, Further Easing Drought Fears

Mother Nature seemed intent on proving the bureaucrats wrong Wednesday, as heavy rain and snow continued to fall throughout the state following an official declaration that California is suffering from a drought.

The National Weather Service said a total of 1.52 inches of rain from the chilly, two-day storm had fallen on the Los Angeles Civic Center by nightfall Wednesday, with occasionally intense thundershowers expected before dawn today that could cause flooding and landslides in canyon areas.

Janice Roth, a meteorologist for WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times, said as much as another inch of rain should fall in and around the Los Angeles Basin before the storm tapers off tonight and Friday morning. Up to a foot of new snow is expected in Southland mountains.

Roth said another storm “that could pack another punch” is expected to strike the state late Friday and early Saturday.

Sudden downpours and hailstorms snarled both morning and evening rush-hour traffic Wednesday, triggering hundreds of accidents on rain-slicked Los Angeles-area freeways and surface streets.

Twenty-six cars and trucks were involved in a spectacular, chain-reaction series of smashups on the Pomona Freeway in the Puente Hills area Wednesday evening that injured a total of 26 motorists, 16 of whom were transported to local hospitals for treatment. Officers said that, despite the magnitude of the accident, none of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening.

Capt. Dirk McClellan of the Los Angeles County Fire Department said the drivers apparently were blinded when the sun broke momentarily through the rain clouds, causing the water on the pavement to evaporate in a mist.

“It was like they were all driving into a fog,” he said. “They all came together in a cluster.”

At least 13,000 customers of Southern California Edison Co. and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power suffered storm-related blackouts, but in most cases, power was restored in an hour or so.

Rain pouring through a leaking roof prompted the evacuation of 13 apartment units in Azusa, and rising floodwaters forced the closing of a pizza parlor in Carson.

Minor Damage

A mudslide and flooding caused minor damage to nine homes in Santa Clarita before Los Angeles County firefighters were able to stem the flow with sandbags.

The rain flooded some catch basins at a fuel oil depot in Wilmington, causing about 4,200 gallons of waste oil to spill down a drain into a harbor shipping channel. The spill was contained with booms.

Chilly temperatures accompanying the rain prompted Los Angeles social service agencies to issue hotel room vouchers for several hundred homeless people. City officials said the vouchers were being issued to people in the San Fernando Valley because overnight temperatures there were expected to dip below 50 degrees.

The Los Angeles Dodgers-San Diego Padres baseball game was rained out for the second straight night. It was only the 14th rainout in the 26-year history of Dodger Stadium.

Heavy rain from the storm was reported in Northern California, with 2 1/2 inches recorded in the Sacramento-area communities of Orangeville and El Dorado Hills.

As much as 2 feet of new snow was reported at scattered locations in the Sierra Nevada, with more continuing to fall Wednesday night.

Nonetheless, state officials declined to back off much from Tuesday’s declaration by state Water Resources Director David N. Kennedy that, because of two years of subnormal rainfall and snowpack, California is suffering from a drought.

“Well, I’m not sure if ‘drought’ is the term, but we’re still in a situation where we have to worry about carrying over enough water for next year,” Kennedy’s chief deputy, Bob Whiting, said Wednesday.

“This storm has been a big help, but the snowpack is still pretty spotty in the Sierra, only 50% of normal in most places,” he said. “We do have some weather patterns now that could bring more rain and snow, but the odds of bringing things back to normal this late in the year are pretty slim. . . .

“But this storm is a big help. It’s brought rain and snow, cut down on evaporation and cut down on (water) use. It’s a lot better than not having it.”

Still Below Normal

The 5 p.m. storm total at the Los Angeles Civic Center raised the season’s total there to 11.02 inches, still more than 3 inches short of the normal for the date.

Other rainfall totals from the storm by 5 p.m. Wednesday included 4.15 inches at Mt. Wilson, 2.0 in Pasadena, 1.62 in Monrovia, 1.58 in Woodland Hills, 1.47 in Torrance and 1.15 in San Juan Capistrano.

Roth said the wintry weather that swept the state Wednesday was the product of a storm system that blustered down the Pacific Coast from the Gulf of Alaska on winds that gusted to gale force at times.

Thunderstorms raked the state’s midsection for the second-straight day, and funnel clouds were reported again in the San Joaquin Valley--this time near Coalinga. But unlike Tuesday, when a small tornado touched down near Stockton, there were no reports of damage.

Normal Storm Track

Roth said the cool, damp weather system--the second in what may prove to be a continuing series--is following the normal storm track for this time of year, a track that was blocked for six weeks while the high-altitude jet stream followed an unusually northerly course.

The rain, which began falling in Los Angeles on Tuesday night, will continue through this morning, Roth said, with the showers tapering off by this afternoon.

“It’ll be partly cloudy Friday afternoon, and then there’ll be more clouds Friday night, with showers by Saturday morning,” she said. “That looks like another pretty good storm.”

Temperatures were decidedly cool at the Los Angeles Civic Center on Wednesday.

The high was only 57 degrees, tying the record for the lowest high temperature for the date, set in 1957. The overnight low was 52 degrees. Dankness added to the chill, with humidity ranging between 77% and 96%.

Roth said it will not be much warmer in the Los Angeles Basin today, with high temperatures hovering in the high 50s near the coast and pushing only a little above 60 farther inland.

THE RAIN

24-hour total: 1.52 in.

Storm total: 1.52in.

Monthly total: 1.94 in.

Total for season: 11.02 in.

Last season to date: 7.61 in.

Normal season to date: 14.33 in.

Figures, based on 5 p.m. readings at the Los Angeles Civic Center, are compiled by the National Weather Service.