Valley’s Rainy Season Is Falling a Little Short of Normal

The inch or so of rain that drizzled over the San Fernando Valley on Tuesday and Wednesday brought the season’s total closer to the norm, but probably not close enough to reach normal levels before the rainy season winds up at the end of this month, weather officials said Wednesday.

The total precipitation to date in the Valley reached 11.5 inches Wednesday, still short of the 12.1 inches that is normal for this time of year, said Curtis Brack, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which supplies weather information to The Times.

With the rainfall period--which runs from July through March--about to end, the area probably will not reach the 15-inch norm for the year unless there are heavy rains later this month, Brack said.

But if the weather follows the usual pattern, the later part of March will be less rainy than the earlier part, he said.

Last year, an unusually wet year, the Valley had nearly 22 inches of rain by the end of March, he said.

Although rain is forecast for most of the Los Angeles area today and Friday, with possible gusty winds and small hail, most of the heaviest precipitation should hit outside the Valley area, said Bill Hoffer, a meteorological technician with the National Weather Service.

“It’s a real unsettled season and we’re in a real transitional period of Mother Nature trying to get out of winter and into spring,” Hoffer said.

Beginning today, there’s a 40% to 60% chance of rain for much of Southern California, including downtown Los Angeles, much of Orange County and coastal, desert, foothill and mountain areas, officials said. But the valleys can expect partly cloudy skies with only a slight chance of showers.

California Highway Patrol officials urged drivers to be cautious.

Between Tuesday morning and late Wednesday afternoon, there were about 600 traffic accidents--none fatal--on Southern California freeways, said Sgt. Ernie Garcia.

By comparison, one dry day last week, only about 70 accidents were reported, he said.

During stormy weather, the increase in accidents is usually the result of drivers following other vehicles too closely and driving too fast, Garcia said.