Storm Did Not Wipe Out Drought, Officials Say

The season’s first major storm soaked all of California’s major cities and dumped more than a foot of snow in the Sierra, but officials cautioned that it does not necessarily signal the end of the drought.

Bill Helms, spokesman for the state Department of Water Resources Drought Center, and other officials stressed that the storm, borne by gusting winds from the Gulf of Alaska, cannot in itself solve all the problems created by two straight dry years.

“Nothing has really changed significantly,” Helms said Monday. “We’ve got too much ahead of us to tell where we stand. There has been very little change in terms of (water) storage.”

He said much of the recent rainfall was absorbed by parched land, and the runoff into reservoirs is likely to be slight.

Major Source

The Sierra snowpack serves as a major source of water for the state and will be watched closely this winter by state water officials fearful of the cumulative impact of a third consecutive dry winter.

The cautions expressed by Helms did not seem to be on the minds of business people and residents in Truckee, Calif., near the Nevada border, which has been hard-hit by a drop in skiing and tourism caused by two years of little snow. People were “out in the streets throwing snowballs in pure joy,” according to one store owner.

At the drought center in Sacramento, “phones were ringing off the hook,” as Californians called in the hopes of hearing good news, Helms said.

Along the Northern California coast, state fire officials at Jackson State Forest “heaved a big sigh of relief” when it became clear that the long summer fire season had at last come to an end, Capt. Jim Wood said.

But Bill Teie, chief of fire control operations for the California Department of Forestry, echoed the concerns raised by Helms.

“We are still going to need a lot of moisture,” Teie said.

California’s storm season typically begins in the middle of November, and reservoirs are for the most part replenished in December, January and February, when half the seasonal rain falls. As of Nov. 1, the average water level in San Joaquin Valley reservoirs was still only at 62% of the historical average, Helms said.

“It would take an awful lot of rain to even have (the drought) over with by the first of the year,” Helms said.

The storm swept across Southern California late Sunday and early Monday, dropping .46 inch of rain in San Juan Capistrano, .41 in Santa Ana, .27 in Newport Beach and .37 on the Los Angeles Civic Center. The heaviest rainfall in Orange County was measured at Santiago Peak--1.18 inches. A total of 2.25 inches was reported at Mt. Wilson. Light snow fell in the Tehachapi Mountains and at Big Bear in the San Bernardino Mountains.

Power outages hit about 9,000 customers served by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, starting about 8 p.m. Sunday, as a combination of rain and accumulated dust shorted out electrical lines over a widespread area.

In Orange County, the rainfall caused power “dips”--a momentary loss of power or dimming of lights--in about 26,000 households, and by late Monday afternoon about 100 customers in west Santa Ana and Garden Grove were without power, according to Gene Carter, spokesman for Southern California Edison.

The cold front moved east out of Southern California Monday, bringing a prediction by WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times, for partly cloudy skies and warmer temperatures today.

But the storm spelled trouble in some areas.

Traffic on Interstate 5 near San Juan Capistrano came to a virtual stop when three accidents occurred within 10 minutes during the pre-dawn downpour. The accidents occurred when two 18-wheel truck rigs hydroplaned on the rain-slick freeway overcrossing at San Juan Creek Road. Four more vehicles collided as drivers gawked at the scene, California Highway Patrol Officer Ken Daily said. Surprisingly, no one was hurt, he added.

By 10 a.m.--6 hours later--the damaged trucks and cars had been towed away and the lanes been reopened, but traffic was still backed up for about 8 miles in the southbound lanes, Daily said.

In San Luis Obispo County, a storm-generated wave washed two men to their deaths Monday from a breakwater at the entrance to Morro Bay Harbor. A third fisherman clung to the rocks and scrambled to safety.

The two victims were identified as Carlos Perez Martinez, 44, and Ruben Acevedo, both of Santa Maria. A 17-year-old Puerto Rican youth, Michael Colon, escaped.

In Los Angeles, CHP spokesman Ruben Martinez said rain contributed to a fatal traffic accident shortly before 10 p.m Sunday in the northbound lanes of the Santa Ana Freeway, north of Washington Boulevard.

A 28-year-old resident of mid-town Los Angeles drove onto the freeway, swerved from one lane to another--hitting one car--then continued across the freeway and smashed into a third auto, Martinez said. The driver survived, but his 24-year-old wife and the child she was carrying died at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

The husband was held in the medical center’s jail ward for investigation of manslaughter and drunk driving. The CHP withheld the identities of the couple until relatives could be notified.

Amy Stevens reported from San Francisco and Marcida Dodson from Costa Mesa. John Kendall in Los Angeles contributed.