More Rain Plants Seeds of Hope for End to Drought : Weather: Storms raise moisture level above seasonal average. Forecasters expect today to be cold and windy.

Rain showers swept across California again Friday, capping a week of storms that harried commuters, delighted surfers and raised total rainfall above normal levels, raising hope that the state may break a six-year drought in 1993, officials said.

By 6 a.m. Friday, the week’s rain and snowstorms had dropped enough moisture to equal the December seasonal average, said Dee Davis, spokesman for the state’s Drought Information Center.

In November, rain and snow levels in the state were only 20% of normal, but are now slightly ahead of the season average, Davis said.

Forecasters said conditions will be cold and windy today, with skies starting to clear by afternoon. Low temperatures tonight are expected to be in the high 30s and low 40s, said Steve Burback, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides weather information to The Times.

Despite the latest storm--which dropped less than half an inch of rain in Los Angeles on Friday--state officials said it is too early to predict whether California will avoid a drought next year.

“The good news is we are starting early, compared to the last couple of seasons where the storm activity was typically toward the end of the season,” said Gary Hester, chief of forecasting for the state Department of Water Resources. “But it’s still too early to tell for sure what the levels will be on April 1.”

Snow levels in the mountains surrounding Los Angeles fell to about 4,000 feet, weather officials said.

The rain brought its usual troubles to area freeways. A traffic accident involving a big-rig trailer truck and two cars on the Golden State Freeway forced the closure of all southbound lanes at Burbank Boulevard for nearly five hours. The freeway reopened at 2:30 p.m., said California Highway Patrol Officer Al Michel.

Rain and cold temperatures Friday also prompted the earlier-than-scheduled opening of 10 city shelters for the homeless, which will operate daily from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. through Feb. 11, city officials said.

City-sponsored vans will be available to take the homeless to the shelters, which can accommodate up to 1,400 people and are located near downtown, on the Westside, in San Pedro and in the San Fernando Valley.

Friday’s storm brought three- to six-foot waves to Hermosa Beach, drawing a crowd of surfers to the water, which was just one degree warmer than the air temperature of 62 degrees at midafternoon, Los Angeles County Lifeguard Tracy Lizotte said.

In Ventura County, where snow levels fell below 5,000 feet, the U.S. Forest Service closed three mountain roads north of Ojai to prevent crowds of snow-seekers from clogging one-lane mountain roads.

The latest storm, which moved south from the Gulf of Alaska, struck harder in Northern California, causing some flooding, mudslides and high winds in San Francisco, as well as Sonoma and Santa Clara counties, state weather officials said.

Times staff writer Joanna M. Miller also contributed to this story.

Southland Rain Watch

Rainfall figures for the 24-hour period ending at 4 p.m. Tuesday. Season totals and norms are based on precipitation from July 1 to date.

REGION PRECIPITATION IN INCHES 24-Hour Storm Season Season Total Total* Total Norm L.A. BASIN Avalon/Catalina 0.60 0.60 4.05 2.51 Culver City 0.15 0.15 3.86 2.62 Long Beach 0.15 0.15 4.24 3.48 L.A. Civic Center 0.06 0.06 3.83 3.09 L.A. Int’l Airport 0.12 0.12 3.73 2.76 Montebello 0.00 0.00 5.11 2.58 Santa Monica 0.11 0.11 2.41 2.72 Torrance 0.08 0.08 3.23 2.81 UCLA 0.09 0.09 4.53 3.66 VALLEYS/CANYONS Beaumont 0.02 0.02 5.86 3.93 Monrovia 0.02 0.02 7.26 NA Northridge 0.21 0.21 3.59 NA Pasadena 0.20 0.20 5.89 3.86 Riverside 0.01 0.01 2.96 2.16 San Bernardino 0.00 0.00 3.15 3.52 San Gabriel 0.00 0.00 6.79 3.66 Santa Clarita 0.00 0.00 3.32 3.74 Woodland Hills 0.21 0.21 4.89 3.53 ORANGE COUNTY Anaheim 0.08 0.08 5.24 NA Irvine 0.00 0.00 0.60 NA Laguna Beach 0.00 0.00 0.78 2.71 Lake Forest 0.00 0.00 3.33 NA Newport Beach 0.00 0.00 3.54 2.44 San Juan Cap. 0.03 0.03 4.17 NA Santa Ana 0.29 0.29 3.28 2.74 SAN DIEGO COUNTY Chula Vista 0.00 0.00 0.37 2.35 Coronado 0.00 0.00 2.30 NA Del Mar 0.00 0.00 2.48 NA Miramar 0.00 0.00 1.71 NA Oceanside 0.03 0.03 1.68 2.44 San Diego 0.00 0.00 1.86 2.37 Vista 0.05 0.05 2.22 3.32 Alpine 0.03 0.03 5.14 3.86 El Cajon 0.01 0.01 1.42 3.35 Escondido 0.03 0.03 3.24 3.45 Fallbrook 0.21 0.21 3.50 1.86 Poway 0.00 0.00 2.49 3.33 Ramona 0.00 0.00 0.57 3.75 SOUTHLAND MOUNTAINS Big Bear Lake 0.03 0.03 5.93 7.18 Cuyamaca Park 0.00 0.00 6.85 9.04 Mt. Laguna 0.00 0.00 10.01 NA Mt. Wilson 0.08 0.08 5.52 6.94 Palomar Mtn. 0.00 0.00 14.74 7.83 DESERTS Bishop 0.00 0.00 0.58 1.64 Death Valley 0.00 0.00 0.28 0.79 Lancaster 0.00 0.00 0.06 1.86 Borrego Springs 0.00 0.00 1.84 1.62 El Centro 0.00 0.00 0.54 2.35 Palm Springs 0.00 0.00 1.30 1.26 Thermal 0.00 0.00 0.44 1.91 SANTA BARBARA/VENTURA Ojai 0.22 0.22 1.87 1.38 Oxnard 0.20 0.20 3.02 4.21 Point Mugu 0.25 0.25 5.01 3.03 Santa Barbara 0.26 0.26 4.00 NA Santa Paula 0.00 0.00 0.58 3.00 Ventura 0.21 0.21 4.58 3.68 SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY Bakersfield 0.19 0.19 2.13 1.32

NA indicates figures not available. In other cases, some totals may be incomplete because of missing station reports.

* Amount of rainfall since the last zero-precipitation day.

SOURCE: National Weather Service and WeatherData Inc.