First Rain of Season Brings Highway Havoc

Look on the bright side: The rain was scarcely more than gentle showers, and the sun finally did come out for a few minutes in Downtown Los Angeles.

But the first measurable rain of the season caused havoc on freeways Wednesday, tripling the normal number of accidents. And while traffic was slugging along at a snail’s pace, the rain was driving real-life snails and slugs out of gardens and onto porches from Reseda to Rosemead.

Forecasters were predicting more sprinkles tonight and early Friday. And they warned that Saturday and Sunday could be the coolest and wettest days so far this fall.

The inch counts for Wednesday’s rain were tiny, ranging from a mere 0.02 in Long Beach to 0.15 in Santa Monica, with 0.09 at the Los Angeles Civic Center. But that was enough to loosen a six-month accumulation of oil and grease from pavement and make freeways as slick as ice, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The CHP tallied 261 accidents in Los Angeles County between 5:30 and 9 a.m., compared with a normal 80 to 90 in that period. Five people were injured in a seven-vehicle crash on the northbound Golden State Freeway at 4th Street and a CHP officer suffered minor injuries when his motorcycle went down near the accident scene, said CHP spokesman Rhett Price.

Traffic was jammed on the northbound Long Beach Freeway when two tractor-trailer trucks, a car and a van collided near Rosecrans Avenue in Paramount. A truck accident on the northbound San Diego Freeway, north of the San Gabriel River Freeway, caused a several-mile backup.

Wednesday’s rain delighted gardeners and sent snails racing for cover--figuratively, at least. It also was welcomed by Los Angeles County fire officials, who warned that the brush fire danger still remains high.

“Let me put it this way--in Southern California we can have brush fires at any time of the year,” said Paul Rippens, chief of the county’s Forestry Division. “This rain is nice and we hope it continues, but it certainly hasn’t lessened the potential for fire.”

Dean Jones, a meteorologist for WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times, said Wednesday’s sprinkles came from a weak storm that blew in from the Gulf of Alaska. Tonight’s sprinkles will come from a similar storm.

“I don’t see anything bright and sunny until the end of the weekend, although Thursday doesn’t look too bad,” Jones said. “We’re calling for mainly morning fog and partly cloudy conditions and maybe some sunny skies in some areas.”

Today’s ultraviolet index level in the Los Angeles area will be 4, according to the National Weather Service. Such a reading is considered a low exposure level, but enough to burn those with fair complexions within about 20 minutes if they are not protected.