Record Lows Chill Calif.; Crops Periled

The arctic cold front continued to give California the shivers today, sending temperatures plunging to record lows overnight in the state’s northern portion and threatening serious citrus and other crop damage in the Southland.

Commuters encountered ice-slicked streets in some parts of the Los Angeles Basin. Sand was spread over the pavement to improve traction on some thoroughfares like Topanga Canyon Boulevard in the Santa Monica Mountains, and authorities reported few problems.

Police said an intersection in Northridge was a “skating rink” after a car knocked over a fire hydrant and the spewing water froze. While Department of Water and Power crews worked to turn off the water, cars were slipping and sliding at the intersection of Nordhoff Street and Wilbur Avenue shortly after 6:30 a.m.

No major mishaps resulted from the “black ice” effect there, officers said.

Natural gas consumption was up nearly 70% because of the freezing weather. For a 24-hour period ending Sunday night, 2.5 billion cubic feet of gas was delivered to Southern California Gas Co. residential customers, way over the usual figure of 1.5 billion cubic feet for a winter day, officials said.

Temperatures dropped into the lower 20s in several Southern California agricultural areas, raising fears of crop damage. Freeze warnings were issued for most farming areas where temperatures were expected to fall tonight into the high teens and low 20s.

“We’re concerned about crop damage the next two nights because there will be little wind with these cold temperatures,” said spokesman Curt Anderson of Sunkist Growers, a citrus cooperative of 6,000 growers in California and Arizona.

Temperatures ranged from 17 degrees in Lancaster and 24 in Victorville to 23 in Redlands and 29 in Riverside and San Bernardino.