Storm Delivers Snowy Surprise for Christmas

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. And feel like it, too.

A surprise storm that put snow on mountaintops and mittens on fingertips around Los Angeles is poised for a Christmas Eve encore, weather forecasters warned Saturday.

Although this morning might be dry, the rain will return after noon and will probably continue throughout much of Christmas Day, meteorologists said.

And it will be chilly, with snow falling in mountain areas above 5,000 feet. It could be sleigh-depth in places.

“Eighteen inches would not be out of the question,” said forecaster Rob Kaczmarek of WeatherData Inc., which provides weather information for The Times. “Some areas will have substantial snowfall.”

Thousands of Southland residents got a preview of their white Christmas on Saturday, when they awakened and found yards, cars and streets covered. Weather forecasters had not even predicted rain, much less snow.

“For the moment, I’m snowed in,” said Kristi Glazebrook, a pet supply dealer who lives in the rural Acton area, about 35 miles north of downtown Los Angeles.

“Yesterday on the Weather Channel they said we were just going to have clouds. I don’t know what they’re saying today: My satellite dish won’t pick up any channels. There’s too much snow on it.”

The snow and rain created havoc on streets and freeways and in some Southland neighborhoods. Slick pavement and speeding motorists were blamed by the California Highway Patrol, which counted more than 255 accidents in Los Angeles County during the first six hours of the storm.

Power failures were reported during the day in parts of Van Nuys, Encino, North Hollywood and Glendale.

In Pacoima, where streets were flooded and rain continued through the morning, the community Christmas parade was postponed until next Saturday.

“Nobody knew it was going to rain,” said parade organizer Marie Harris, who added that many of the marching bands, drill teams and other groups showed up at dawn, ready to march despite the downpour.

About an inch of rain fell in the Los Angeles area. Redondo Beach reported 0.99 of an inch and Woodland Hills 0.97, but the Civic Center registered just 0.53. Snowfall totals of 6 inches were reported in Palmdale, 9 inches at Wrightwood and 3 inches at Palomar Mountain.

Downtown, the rain forced volunteers at the Los Angeles Mission to move their traditional Christmas ham dinner indoors for about 4,000 homeless and needy people. “We normally block off Winston Street and set up tables on the whole block, making it a more festive neighborhood block party,” said the mission’s Rev. Jim Lewis.

Most seemed to be enjoying the seasonally sloppy weather, however.

“It’s winter. It’s supposed to be this way,” said Tauras Radvenis, a Hollywood banker who was tramping through a muddy Christmas tree lot on Alameda Street south of downtown, where the rain was making the pine trees glisten.

Her friend Vitoria Prismantas, an actress, said she wouldn’t mind a Christmas Eve storm either. “It’s cozier that way. Everybody’s coming to our place, anyway--we’re having a traditional Lithuanian Christmas Eve with grandparents over and everything.”

In Culver City, shoppers jamming a La Cienega Boulevard Toys R Us outlet sidestepped huge puddles in the parking lot. Brian McCoy, a Los Angeles security company worker, emerged from the store carrying a shiny pink bicycle--a gift for his 6-year-old daughter, Kala.

“She won’t care if it’s raining on Christmas,” McCoy said. “She’ll be outside riding this anyway.”

Off in the distance, the rain clouds above Hollywood and Pasadena were lifting enough for McCoy and the others to glimpse a bright dusting of snow on the San Gabriel Mountains. Up there, there was happiness, too.

At the Snow Summit ski resort near Big Bear, workers slogged through as much as six inches of snow to hurriedly open extra lifts in preparation for a predicted Christmas Eve rush.

If there’s 18 inches of snow by Christmas, “that could really set us up,” said resort spokesman Chris Riddle.

North of the San Fernando Valley, the snowcapped Santa Susana Mountains were a lure to nonskiers.

Above Chatsworth at the top of Browns Canyon Road, Keith King of Canoga Park and several friends slipped past a locked gate and several “no trespassing” signs to reach the top of Oat Mountain. There, they used a camping stove to make hot chocolate laced with peppermint schnapps and Tia Maria. King’s pocket thermometer said it was 39 degrees.

Deeper snow forced the closure of Interstate 5 at the Tejon Pass north of Los Angeles until midday. The Cajon Pass, north of San Bernardino, was also shut down.

In the High Desert community of Palmdale, cars were moving slowly along slushy roads. “It’s too cold to really enjoy the snow,” said Elizabeth Roland, whose son Tommy, 10, and daughter Lexi, 7, ventured outside long enough to build a snowman with a carrot nose.

Forecasters, meanwhile, blamed Saturday’s erroneous prediction on a “tricky” Alaskan storm.

“The thinking was most of the energy would be south of the state, through Baja. But it kind of stalled and the energy didn’t push as far south as we’d thought,” Kaczmarek said.

Special correspondents Judy Torres in Castaic and Eric Wahlgren in Ventura contributed to this report.