Blustery Storm Soaks Southland : Weather: In Orange County, rain accounts for 73 accidents and freeway tie-ups. Anaheim Hills residents keep nervous watch on landslide.

An intense, blustery storm drenched Southern California for a second straight day Friday, contributing to at least four traffic deaths, fraying the nerves of hillside residents and delivering a touch of winter to springtime Los Angeles.

In downtown Los Angeles, 2.35 inches of rain fell between 4 p.m. Thursday and 4 p.m. Friday. The storm also dumped up to a foot of snow in the mountains, where ski resort managers predicted large weekend crowds.

Through it all, the wind blew--sometimes gusting up to 30 m.p.h.--and temperatures stayed chilly. The highest reading Friday at the Los Angeles Civic Center was 61 degrees--9 degrees below normal for the fifth day of spring.

“The storm packed a big punch before it moved east into the desert,” said Steve Burback, a meteorologist with WeatherData, which provides forecasts for The Times. The bulk of the storm moved into southern Nevada and Arizona on Friday afternoon, leaving scattered rain, clouds and strong desert winds in its wake.

Burback predicted that another, weaker storm would hit the region late this afternoon, with about a 40% chance of showers tonight and early Sunday. Skies should clear by Sunday afternoon, Burback said, with generally dry weather through next Wednesday.

In Orange County, the storm was blamed for an unusually high number of accidents--73 to be exact--by Friday evening. One of the worst accidents of the day occurred at 11:45 a.m. when three big rigs collided on the westbound Riverside Freeway in Anaheim. Two of the rigs overturned, with one spilling a load of gravel and the other spilling 70 gallons of diesel fuel.

As a result of the accident, two westbound lanes were closed for more than two hours, causing traffic to come to a virtual standstill for at least eight miles. The slowdown resulted in 12 other minor accidents within five minutes of each other, none of them involving serious injuries.

One of the storm-related traffic deaths involved a 25-year-old man whose truck crashed through a freeway guardrail and plunged 70 feet into the rain-swollen Los Angeles River, according to the California Highway Patrol. The victim’s name was withheld pending notification of next of kin.

The CHP said the truck toppled into the river Thursday night after colliding with a car on the Golden State Freeway north of downtown Los Angeles. The vehicle was swept about 1 1/2 miles downstream. The river’s strong currents prevented firefighters from recovering the vehicle and the man’s body until 8 a.m. Friday.

Adam Ambrose, 6, was fatally injured late Thursday night when the car he was riding in spun out of control, overturned and was struck by two vehicles on the Golden State Freeway, the CHP said.

Officers said the boy’s mother, Christine Ambrose, 28, of Carmichael was headed south on the freeway north of Western Avenue when her car apparently hit a puddle, spun and overturned. A car traveling south on the freeway struck the passenger side of Ambrose’s auto, forcing it into the next lane of traffic, where another car struck the vehicle.

The boy was pronounced dead at St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank. Seven people, including Christine Ambrose and her two other sons, suffered minor injuries.

Dozens of other accidents occurred on rain-slick pavement throughout the region, the CHP said.

Two people were killed when their car crashed Thursday evening on California 126 near Fillmore in Ventura County. A 10-car pileup blocked the westbound lanes of the Ventura Freeway in Glendale for several hours Friday, but there were no serious injuries, the CHP said.

A helicopter crew rescued a man and a dog stranded on a sandbar in Malibu Creek late Thursday, said county fire Inspector Joel Harrison. Colt Elswick, 48, and the dog were unhurt.

Rainfall in Orange County ranged from 0.12 inches of rain in Dana Point to 1.51 inches in San Juan Capistrano, with winds reported from 15 to 35 m.p.h.

“It was a pretty potent storm,” Burback said. “The storm packed a big punch.”

But the rain had no immediate effect on the massive 25-acre landslide that continues to affect hundreds of Anaheim Hills residents.

“We’re keeping an eye on it and haven’t noticed any changes,” city spokesman Bret Colson said. “We don’t think there has been enough rain to adversely impact the landslide.”

Hillside homeowners in Studio City and Agoura Hills kept a watchful eye as more rain pelted the saturated earth behind their houses, threatening to set off more mudslides.

A small landslide in Agoura Hills this week caused about 10 feet of earth movement behind one home, but authorities said no buildings were in imminent danger. Officials warned that several homes in Studio City may suffer more damage because of a sliding hill.

Times staff writers David Haldane, Greg Hernandez and Matt Lait contributed to this story.