Storm Puts On Quite a Show; More Is Coming

Another intense weather front traveling on a storm track out of the Gulf of Alaska swept through Southern California on Wednesday, spawning tornadoes, waterspouts, thunderstorms, hail and snow.

In the Muscoy area of San Bernardino County, a tornado touched ground briefly around 1:45 p.m., knocking down power lines, whipping whirlwinds of debris down residential streets and tearing the roof from one homeowner’s patio.

“We were in here watching TV when we heard this big old boom” said Ron Wagner, who lives in an apartment in the neighborhood. “We looked outside and it was all black, with paper flying around and the horses going crazy just like in the ‘Wizard of Oz.’ ”

The National Weather Service reported that a twister touched down near Chowchilla in the Central Valley, causing minor structural damage. Numerous funnel clouds were sighted in San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

There were heavy downpours, with 2.21 inches falling on Mt. Wilson and more than an inch at some lower levels in the Los Angeles Basin between midnight and 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Northridge reported 1.66 inches, Newhall 1.46, Monrovia 1.25, Pasadena 1.05, Woodland Hills 1.02, San Gabriel 0.97, Santa Barbara and San Juan Capistrano 0.82 and the Los Angeles Civic Center 0.41.

The storm generated heavy surf of up to seven feet along the San Diego County coast, where a waterspout swept ashore near Camp Pendleton, and a tornado warning was issued at midday. No major damage resulted.

Marble-size hailstones fell in Santa Barbara. Up to an inch of hail accumulated in foothill communities from Glendale to Glendora. Flash floods were reported in Kern County.

“It’s been a pretty wild day in Southern California,” said Meteorologist Marty McKewon of WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.

McKewon said it all was generated by a giant, upper-level low extending from the Gulf of Alaska to just off the Southern California coast, where the front curved inland and moved east.

He predicted that the jet stream will carry another storm through Southern California today, followed by still another system on Sunday that is expected to again produce showers and thunderstorms.

Snow fell for about two hours in the Lancaster area of the Antelope Valley on Wednesday morning. The Grapevine on Interstate 5, the main north-south artery over the Tehachapis to the Central Valley, was closed by snow and mudslides for approximately five hours Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

Access to the snowy San Bernardino Mountains communities of Big Bear and Arrowhead was limited to residents for a time Wednesday. When travel restrictions were lifted, chains were required above 2,000 feet.

The California Highway Patrol warned, “If you don’t have to go, don’t.”

Three jackknifed tractor-trailer rigs forced closure for two hours of California 18 near Running Springs and California 138 near Wrightwood.

Delays of up to three hours were reported by the CHP on Interstate 15 at Cajon Pass because of numerous spin-outs and disabled trucks in slushy, snowy weather.

At lower elevations in Riverside County, rain flooded the Riverside Freeway in Corona as well as the Pomona and San Bernardino freeways near Banning. Mudslides forced temporary road closures in parts of Moreno Valley.

In San Diego County, the storm dropped an inch of rain on downtown San Diego, raising the seasonal rainfall to above normal.

“We could be up to the whole season normal by the time the weekend is over, with more likely to come,” said National Weather Service forecaster Dan Atkin. “It looks like we’ll be above normal rainfall for the season here in San Diego, whatever good that does.”

The storm brought another half inch of rain to saturated sea-level communities in Ventura County, exceeding normal rainfall totals for the season, and dropped more than 1.5 inches in foothill areas. Officials estimated that the rain added 6,000 acre-feet of water to the county’s two largest reservoirs. Lake Casitas, which received 1.67 inches in the latest storm, has risen by eight feet and 14,500 acre-feet since the series of storms began about three weeks ago.

The 0.41 of an inch that fell in downtown Los Angeles raised the season total to 7.26 inches. The normal rainfall for the date is 12.71 inches.

Times staff writers Philipp Gollner in Los Angeles, Joanna M. Miller in Ventura County, Shawn Hubler in San Bernardino County, David Reyes in Orange County and Bernice Hirabayashi in San Diego County contributed to this story.

THE RAIN From 12 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday: 0.41 in. Storm total: 1.89 in. Monthly total: 2.56 in. Total for season: 7.26 in. Last season to date: 5.60 in. Normal season to date: 12.71 in.

Figures, based on 3 p.m. readings at the Los Angeles Civic Center, are compiled by the National Weather Service, which provides no later data.