Glare From Wet Freeway Triggers Huge Pileup

Heavy rains Thursday led to a 24-vehicle pileup on Interstate 8, blocking the westbound lanes at College Avenue for more than two hours and backing up traffic on the county’s major east-west artery for miles.

Remarkably, no deaths were reported by Thursday night as a result of the crashes, but administrators at UC San Diego Medical Center and Sharp Memorial Hospital said they were treating five victims of the smash-up for minor to major injuries.

Initial California Highway Patrol reports said the pileup--actually three separate accidents--began about 6:15 p.m. when westbound drivers headed down the grade from College Avenue were blinded by a late-afternoon glare off the wet pavement.

As a result of the accidents, traffic came to almost a complete stop at College, with cars backed up for miles. About a dozen CHP officers were dispatched to the scene and began directing a trickle of cars past twisted metal and debris scattered about the freeway.

Several tow trucks were called to remove the battered vehicles, which were either driven or pushed into the two center lanes. CHP officers directed traffic into the other two lanes and the freeway shoulder.

The freeway was not completely opened until about 8:30 p.m., a CHP dispatcher said. Senior CHP officers were still studying reports late Thursday that were filed by the various officers in an attempt to determine exactly how many vehicles were involved. Initial reports said that about two dozen vehicles were damaged in the pileup.

A UCSD Medical Center spokesman said Pamela Larson was admitted to the hospital in good condition, while Mariam Bauer was listed in fair condition. Their ages, home address and nature of injuries were not immediately available.

Administrators at Sharp Memorial said they treated and released three accident victims for minor injuries and admitted two more with major injuries. No identities were released, but a nursing supervisor said one woman was going into surgery with a fractured knee.

The rain that pummeled San Diego County for a ninth straight day changed earlier threats of fires and drought into warnings of floods and power outages.

Among other problems caused by the rain was a sewage spill Thursday in Pacific Beach. The heavy rainfall caused a sewer line to overflow for the second time in two days, spilling 105,000 gallons of sewage into Mission Bay, said Yvonne Regh of the city Water Utilities Department. The sewage, which was highly diluted with rainwater, began flowing out of a manhole at Grand Avenue and East Mission Bay Drive shortly after 10 a.m., Regh said. The flow stopped at 1:39 p.m., she said.

On Wednesday, manholes in the same area overflowed, dumping a mixture of sewage and rainwater into De Anza Cove and prompting county health officials to post signs on the beach warning of possible contamination.

Another sewage spill in Pacific Beach Thursday was caused by grease blocking a manhole near Mission Boulevard and Grand Avenue, a County Department of Health Services spokeswoman said. Work crews quickly cleared the blockage, but the beach near the Grand Avenue lifeguard station was also posted with contamination warnings in case the sewage reached the ocean, she said.

Funnel Cloud Over Water

Mission Bay was also the site of a funnel cloud that formed over the water Thursday morning, prompting an emergency warning to boaters. The twister, caused by high-velocity spiraling winds, remained off the coast and did not do any harm, reported Wilbur Shigehara of the National Weather Service.

“In the past, funnel clouds have done tremendous damage in San Diego, actually lifting boats off the water,” Shigehara said. “They are dangerous and are to be avoided at all costs.” The Weather Service warning remained in effect for several hours Thursday, but the weather conditions that contributed to the formation of the cloud had dissipated by early afternoon, Shigehara said.

Elsewhere in the county, the storm triggered a power outage in Santee Thursday. About 200 customers were without power from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., said San Diego Gas & Electric spokesman Tom Murnane. The blackout occurred when tree limbs knocked down by the wind became tangled in some power lines, Murnane said.

Despite the trouble caused by the storm, the rain was welcomed by farmers and firefighters. Early warnings of drought have been temporarily suspended by the appearance of the rain, Shigehara said.

Rainfall totals for the 24 hours ending at 4 p.m. Thursday: Lindbergh Field, 1.56 inches; Campo, .83; Del Mar, .44; Julian, 1.34; Escondido, .55; La Mesa, .45; Imperial Beach, .39, and Palomar Mountain, .95, with 2-3 inches of snow on the ground.

This month has shaped up to be the fourth wettest April on record in San Diego, according to National Weather Service records. The total rainfall for the month is now up to 3.15 inches, close behind the third-place record of 3.35 inches that fell in April, 1941. The most rain ever recorded for April, since record-keeping began in 1850, was 5.37 inches in 1926, Shigehara said.

Warmer Temperatures

A 40% chance of showers this morning will dwindle to a 15% chance by Saturday, leaving San Diegans to clean up in the wake of the rains and prepare for the next storm, which may arrive as early as Wednesday.

The current storm should be gone by Saturday afternoon at the latest, Shigehara said. Sunday and Monday will be partly cloudy but dry, and temperatures will warm up slightly each day, he said.

The rain may not be over for long, however. The forecasters are keeping a wary eye on the horizon, watching another storm approaching from the Gulf of Alaska, Shigehara said. Originally predicted to bring rain by Saturday, the Alaskan storm appears to have petered out and may not bring a single raindrop to the area, Shigehara said. Yet another storm front is moving in from the west and may bring rainfall by Wednesday or later, he said.

High temperatures on the coast and inland are expected to hit 62-68 degrees today, warming up a degree or two by Saturday. On Sunday, highs of 65-70 degrees on the coast and 70-76 degrees inland are predicted. Nighttime lows this weekend will be about 52-57 degrees on the coast and 45-53 degrees inland.

Mountain highs will be 40-48 degrees today and Saturday, warming up slightly to 45-52 degrees Sunday. Overnight lows will remain in the 27- to 35-degree range, with a possibility of light snowfall this morning. In the deserts, temperatures will peak at 70-78 degrees today and Saturday, and 80-85 Sunday. Night temperatures in the desert will be from 47 to 55 degrees.