Drivers, Farm Workers Pay Price of Late Storm : Weather: Freeways and strawberry fields are a mess. Showers could linger through Wednesday, when Richard Nixon is buried.

Motorists slid out of control. Farm workers picking strawberries gave up because of the mud. And many wondered how the cold rains that swept into Orange County on Monday might affect the funeral for former President Richard Nixon.

The unseasonably late April showers that caused problems throughout Orange County could continue through Wednesday, the day of Nixon’s funeral. There is a 30% chance that light showers or drizzle will fall that day, according to WeatherData, which provides forecasts for The Times.

The National Weather Service is forecasting a continued chance of showers or thunderstorms today, with highs in the upper 50s to middle 60s.

“This is an unusually strong storm for this late in the season,” said Curtis Brack, a meteorologist with WeatherData.

A cold front moved into the Southland early Monday, bringing with it colder temperatures and some light showers, with highs reaching the upper 50s and low 60s. Winds gusted about 15 m.p.h. Up to one-half inch of rain fell on valleys and coastal areas, according to the National Weather Service.

The storm caused its share of problems locally.

Police reported a number of rain-related accidents throughout the county.

About 12:30 p.m., a 10-vehicle pileup in Orange blocked the southbound Costa Mesa Freeway, north of Chapman Avenue.

“The freeway was blocked from the shoulder to the center divider,” stopping traffic for 45 minutes, said Battalion Chief Reymundo Montoya of the Orange Fire Department.

One person was taken to UCI Medical Center with serious injuries, and several others less seriously hurt were taken to St. Joseph Hospital.

The showers also meant trouble for local strawberry growers, who were forced to stop harvesting their sensitive crops by noon because of rain.

“We kept going, but it finally got to a point where it was too muddy to continue,” said Alan Reynolds, president of the Orange County Farm Bureau.

There were no estimates of any damage done to the crop, Reynolds said. In addition to stopping work, the rain poses increased rot problems for the berries.

Orange County growers produce about 15% of the state’s strawberries and were hurt severely last year by rains.

The showers Monday, however, did not cause slides or flooding in fire-scarred sections of Laguna Beach and Anaheim Hills, according to fire officials. Laguna Beach officials didn’t have to open up their emergency command station, a fixture during previous storms.

Times staff writers Lynn Franey and Mark Pinsky contributed to this report.