Frigid Winds Wreak Havoc on Oil Cleanup, Highways

An Arctic-based weather system that clamped down overnight on Southern California brought frigid temperatures, strong gusts of wind and enough hail and snow at higher elevations today to force the closing of the Golden State Freeway for several hours.

Bitter winds blowing from the north forced a temporary suspension of oil cleanup efforts along the Orange County coastline. Fearing that crews working a 14-mile stretch of beach could be endangered by winds of up to 50 knots, cleanup operations were suspended at 10:45 p.m. Tuesday and didn’t resume until 6 a.m. today.

Even as crews returned to the beach, their cleanup effort was hampered by the cold and wind. Along Huntington Beach, workers huddled behind hastily erected windbreaks, piled together from absorbent pads they used to swab the sand.

The temperature in Los Angeles dipped to 45 degrees at 2 a.m. and was expected to struggle to the mid-50s by the afternoon. “I haven’t seen any short pants today,” said Howard Lee, chief Los Angeles County lifeguard at Venice Beach.

In the Gorman area, California Highway Patrol cars equipped with chains began escorting a caravan of nearly 200 cars across the Grapevine late this morning, almost seven hours after ice and snow had forced troopers to close the highway. Several big rig trucks jackknifed along the road, and CHP officials advised motorists to take alternate routes.

But powerful wind gusts from Newhall to Bakersfield prompted the CHP to advise large trucks and other “high profile” vehicles to stay off the roads. Stiff winds also posed a threat to Long Beach firefighters, who battled nearly an hour to prevent a house fire in the Los Altos area from spreading to neighboring homes.

There were scattered reports of hail in the Los Angeles area. In Malibu, a stray, low-lying cloud scattered snow along the Paradise Cove area for 15 minutes this morning. “All the customers went to the window and watched,” said Debbie Alme, a waitress at the Malibu Sea Lion restaurant. “I wish we had a camera.”