Chilling News: Storm May Hit O.C. With Snow

A potent storm barreled into the Southland Wednesday, bringing icy rain, brisk winds, traffic jams and the promise of snow showers in Orange County by week’s end.

As the big chill from the Arctic advanced south packing powerful winds, the National Weather Service warned motorists of blizzard conditions on Interstate 5 in the Tehachapi Mountains and issued winter storm warnings for the southern Sierra Nevada.

If temperatures continue plummeting today and Friday night, Orange County may feel a one-two punch, said meteorologist Marty McKewon of WeatherData, which provides forecasting for The Times.

Along with a 60% to 70% chance of rain today, McKewon said, Orange County may have fleeting snow showers--flakes that fall as snow and land as rain--in the lowlands and foothills.

“This is the strongest storm so far,” McKewon said.

But the brunt of the powerful cold front that left a dash of snow in some Southern California mountain resorts will not strike until Friday night, he said.

That’s when the center of the storm, which has already deposited a blanket of snow in Washington, Oregon and Northern California, is expected to pass over Southern California, and temperatures may drop below freezing in some areas, McKewon said.

“I could see it getting as cold as 33 degrees in Santa Ana, perhaps even 28 or 29, in the county,” McKewon said. “There certainly is the potential for a freeze Friday night.”

On Wednesday, the rainfall--no more than a half-inch was measured anywhere in the county--triggered car crashes that left two freeways closed but caused no serious injuries.

Rain began falling in Orange County about 10 a.m., meteorologists said, and the California Highway Patrol reported at least 10 rain-related traffic collisions on county freeways by late afternoon. The most serious pileup involved a jackknifed truck on the northbound Orange Freeway. The big rig leaked fuel into three northbound lanes at Katella Avenue in Orange, forcing thousands of motorists to squeeze into the center divider and the shoulder to pass the accident as crews cleaned up.

During the 11 a.m. accident, the big rig demolished 40 feet of guardrail. The driver suffered minor cuts and was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange.

On each of the four connectors to the Orange-Riverside Freeway interchange, cars collided, closing down much of the road, CHP spokeswoman Linda Burrus said.

County officials said Wednesday the rain and the gusty winds caused no major damage.

Wednesday night, thousands of homeless people slept on the streets. Two National Guard armories were opened to the homeless, providing 250 beds in addition to the 500 to 600 available through public and private shelters in the county. But Bob Griffith, deputy director of the Orange County Social Services Agency that oversees the armory program, said there are an estimated 5,000 homeless in Orange County.

“There are nowhere near enough beds for the number of homeless people we have,” he said. Those who stay at the armories in Fullerton and Santa Ana are fed hot meals for dinner and breakfast and must leave by 7 a.m.

“Even with the armories in emergency situation,” Griffith said, “it’s not enough.”

As forecasters predicted possible freezing temperatures, owners of Orange County’s $132-million nursery industry and its $36-million strawberry crop braced for the potential devastation Friday night.

“We farm right around 6,000 acres of Valencia oranges, grapefruits, lemons, avocados, strawberries and tomatoes, and we’re getting everything possible ready for the cold,” said Alan Reynolds, orchard manager for Treasure Farms, the county’s largest farming concern. “We have about 160 wind machines and two helicopters on stand-by for frost protection. . . . We could have some real problems by Friday if temperatures drop to the mid-20s.”

Highs today were expected to be in the low to mid-50s, with overnight lows in the upper 30s.

Highs through Friday were forecast in the upper 40s and lower 50s. By Saturday, however, when the storm is expected to move out of the area, temperatures are expected to warm to the 60s.

The storm had already shown its force in Northern California Wednesday, dumping several inches of snow on Lake Tahoe and bringing winter storm warnings for travel in the Sierra Nevada.

Gale-force gusts whipped up a blinding sandstorm on Interstate 15 about 10 miles north of Barstow around 11 a.m. Wednesday, touching off a crash involving two Greyhound buses, a big rig truck and several automobiles, the California Highway Patrol said.

A dozen people suffered major injuries, and more than 40 others received mostly minor injuries. After the accident, a 57-mile section of I-15, the main route between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, was closed because of low visibility.

McKewon expected the storm to dump up to an inch of precipitation in coastal mountain ranges and from a quarter-inch to a half-inch in the Los Angeles Basin before a break in the weather this weekend. Then, he said, more showers are possible on Monday and Christmas.

Because of the cold, McKewon predicted the possibility of snow showers in the metropolitan Los Angeles area.

“It could snow at Malibu,” he said.

McKewon advised motorists planning to get an early start on the holiday by traveling north on Interstate 5 through the Tehachapi Mountains today to delay their trip until Friday.

“Not only will there be heavy snow, but there will 50- to 60-m.p.h. winds,” he said.

Motorists on Highway 395, east of the Sierra Nevada, were warned of possible snow in the Antelope and Owens valleys, the main route to the Mammoth ski area.

Times staff writer John Kendall in Los Angeles contributed to this story