O.C. Braces for Another Barrage of Rain, Wind

After a rainy morning and a chilly evening that brought hail to some areas Wednesday, Orange County braced for yet another onslaught of rain, with predictions of severe thunderstorms that could spawn more hail and possibly a twister.

“The conditions are very ripe” for a tornado, although on “a much smaller scale than, say, the big tornadoes experienced in the Midwest,” said Scott Entrekin, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Los Angeles.

Entrekin said the atmospheric conditions could produce a repeat of the tornado that swept through Irvine three weeks ago and damaged about 50 townhouses, tearing shingles off roofs and knocking out power to thousands. On Tuesday, high winds tore through a neighborhood of Newport Beach, uprooting trees and damaging roofs and cars.

“The atmosphere is very cold out over the Pacific, and this helps to make the atmosphere more unstable. When the cold air meets the relatively moist warm air, (that) creates thunderstorms with high winds as byproduct,” Entrekin said.

On Wednesday, severe weather conditions prompted the National Weather Service to issue a tornado warning for all of Southern California after tornado activity was reported in San Bernardino and Riverside counties. A tornado briefly touched down in the Muscoy area of San Bernardino about 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 severe weather also touched off a water spout off Camp Pendleton, and a large funnel cloud reported in the San Bernardino community of Devore.

In San Juan Capistrano, the unusual conditions prompted a brief storm at 5:10 p.m., dropping hail described by local residents as the size of “large peas,” which temporarily covered lawns and streets.

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

Just about every type of weather imaginable swept through the region Wednesday. Marble-size hailstones fell in Santa Barbara, and flash floods were reported in Kern County.

Snow fell for about two hours in the Lancaster area Wednesday morning, and hail pelted downtown Santa Clarita for about 10 minutes. The Grapevine on Interstate 5, the main artery to the Central Valley, was closed by snow and mudslides for about five hours during the night in the Tehachapi Mountains.

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 CHP warned, “If you don’t have to go, don’t.”

Scattered rain is expected for Orange County today with a chance of thunderstorms. The skies should clear by Friday, when temperatures are also expected to warm up to the mid-60s.

Entrekin said that “very moist, very unstable” cold air now over the Pacific Ocean could travel inland by this afternoon and cause a repeat of the severe thunderstorms and high winds that dumped almost an inch of rain in Orange County on Tuesday night.

There is a 50% chance of showers and rain today under partly cloudy skies. Although there is a lot of unstable cold air aloft, forecasters said the storm is not expected to be as large as the massive weather front that swept through Orange County on Wednesday afternoon and spread into the desert regions.

“It won’t be as widespread, and some areas could remain dry while others get rain. . . . It’s (also) not out of the question that one (thunderstorm) can produce a tornado,” McKewon said.

Rainfall in Santa Ana during a 24-hour period ending at 8 a.m. Wednesday was 0.75 inches, bringing the year’s total to 8.41 inches. Last year’s total rainfall in Santa Ana was 7.54 inches, compared to the average.

Rainfall totals from other areas included 0.63 inches at Villa Park Dam, 0.79 at Santiago Peak, and 0.4 inches in Costa Mesa, according to the Orange County Environmental Management Agency.

On Wednesday, Santa Ana reported a high of 58 degrees after an overnight low of 44 degrees. Today, temperatures will remain chilly, in the mid- to upper 50s throughout the county. Lows are expected in the mid- to upper 40s.

The fierce storm systems that have brought thunder and lightning and sporadic hailstorms has raised hopes that the drought may be easing. The Orange County Environmental Management Agency reported that Santiago Peak has received more than 22 inches of rainfall this year, compared to 17 inches last year and 26 inches for an average year.

Keith Coolidge, a spokesman for the Municipal Water District of Orange County, said water officials in the county welcomed the rainfall, but added, “It doesn’t mean the end of a drought.

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

THE RAIN From 12 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday: 0.95 in. Total for season: 8.99 in. Last season to date: 7.53 in. Normal season to date: 10.62 in.

Figures, based on 3 p.m. readings in Santa Ana, are compiled by the National Weather Service, which provides no later data.