New Storm Temporarily Closes I-5

A Pacific storm rolled into the Los Angeles area Tuesday afternoon, causing a dump truck to plow through lemon trees in the yard of a City of Industry home and forcing California Highway Patrol officers to escort cars through the snow-covered Tejon Pass.

The latest storm is expected to dump another 1 to 1 1/2 inches of rain on the area before letting up late today, said Rick Dittmann, a meteorologist at WeatherData, which provides forecasts for The Times.

Snow and ice turned Interstate 5 at the Tejon Pass into a slippery slope, forcing CHP officers to close the highway between Lake Hughes Road, near Castaic, and Lebec, just over the Kern County line, shortly after 12:30 p.m. for plows to clear the road, Officer Esmeralda Leos said.

By 4:15 p.m., CHP officers were escorting traffic across the Grapevine in blocks of 50 cars, she said. It was unclear late Tuesday how long the escorts would last.

Because of the high winds, Leos said, the CHP also issued a traffic advisory for campers and trailers on I-5 from Gorman to California 99.

Residents and workers in the Tehachapi Mountains around the pass said the snow was heavier than they had experienced in several years, with about 6 inches of powder falling before easing up about 5 p.m.

“I was living in Canada for three years, and the snow here is more than that,” said Mike Nabulsi, who operates a gas station in Lebec. “I moved to California to get away from the stuff.”

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said slick roads caused the driver of a commercial garbage truck to lose control and crash through a cinder-block wall into the back yard of a City of Industry residence.

Both the driver and a passenger suffered injuries when their L.A. Waste truck, which was traveling west on Valley Boulevard near Ferrero Lane, jumped the curb and rolled onto its left side, Deputy Bruce Martin said.

The passenger, 37-year-old Rosendo Haro of El Monte, was taken to Queen of the Valley Hospital in West Covina, where he was listed in very unstable condition Tuesday night just before exploratory surgery, a hospital official said.

The driver of the truck, Haro’s 24-year-old cousin, Jorge Haro of El Monte, was taken by helicopter to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center for treatment of moderate injuries, fire officials said.

Traffic was briefly halted in both directions on the Antelope Valley Freeway in Santa Clarita so Caltrans workers could explode two auto-size boulders perched precariously on a rain-soaked slope above the west side of the freeway near San Fernando Road. A bulldozer quickly cleared the debris and the freeway was reopened.

In the San Fernando Valley, storm-drain runoff closed streets through the Sepulveda Dam flood plain, including Burbank Boulevard between the San Diego Freeway and Balboa Boulevard, Los Angeles police said. Woodley Avenue was also closed between Burbank and Victory boulevards.

Although the rain is expected to ease up this afternoon, Dittmann said the jet stream is carrying a string of storms in from the Pacific. The next is expected to arrive late Friday, he said.

More than half an inch of rain was recorded at the Los Angeles Civic Center by 4 p.m. Tuesday, with Glendale receiving 0.76 of an inch, Woodland Hills getting 0.79 of an inch, Montebello 0.8 of an inch and Newhall receiving 0.91 of an inch.

Times staff writer Renee Tawa contributed to this story.