Sun Expected to Break Up the Gray for Most of Today

Just in time to dry out soggy shoe leather, the sun should finally peek through gray today and shine full for the weekend’s Christmas shopping dash, forecasters said.

“You guys have been stuck under a bank of low clouds, under cloudy, gooky, drizzly gunk,” said Curtis Brack, a meteorologist with Weatherdata Inc., which forecasts weather for The Times. “You should start seeing some sun” today.

Orange County can expect mostly sunny skies with lows in the mid-50s and highs in upper 70s throughout the weekend, Brack said.

But the rainstorm, which began about noon Monday, left behind a mess Wednesday as it dumped more than 2 inches of rain on much of the county.

Two big rigs jackknifed and a third collided with another vehicle, tying up rain-slicked local freeways for hours in the foggy drizzle.

The southbound San Diego Freeway transition to the northbound Costa Mesa Freeway was closed for more than two hours after a tractor-trailer overturned about 1:30 p.m., said California Highway Patrol Officer Michelle DiMaggio.

Crews had to be called in to siphon 100 gallons of fuel from the truck’s tank before it could be righted, DiMaggio said. No other vehicles were involved, and there were only minor injuries, she said.

A second big rig jackknifed shortly after 11 a.m. on the transition from the eastbound Garden Grove Freeway to the northbound Orange Freeway, DiMaggio said. The ramp was blocked for about an hour and a half, she said. There were no injuries.

A third truck was involved in an accident with another vehicle at 3:30 p.m. on the westbound Artesia Freeway near Magnolia Street, blocking the third and fourth lanes for 30 minutes.

“People are driving too fast in the rain,” said Denise Medina, a CHP representative. “Someone in front of them comes to a quick stop. Rather than rear-end the people, they make a quick lane change. . . . The drivers fail to realize that it takes the big trucks [behind them] a long time to stop. They think the big rig will stop the same as a car. Well, it just doesn’t happen.”

“A whole bunch” of cars also were involved in accidents on crowded freeways, Medina said. But there were no major injuries.

Weather experts said the county is off to an unusually wet start for the year.

By Wednesday morning, the storm had dumped 2.38 inches of rain on Santa Ana, bringing its total since July to 6.31 inches, said Mel Newman, an environmental resources specialist with the county Environmental Management Agency.

The city’s average rainfall to date is 2.6 inches, Newman said. And at this time last year, the city had received just 0.09 inches of rain.

“We are more than two times normal right now,” he said. “Our real rainfall doesn’t start until the end of December, January and March.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Heavy Rain

Early-season storms have boosted Orange County rainfall totals to well beyond normal levels. Rainfall for 24-hour period ending 4 p.m. Wednesday, in inches:

Anaheim 0.94

Dana Point 1.45

Lake Forest 1.21

Laguna Beach 2.35

Newport Beach 1.80

San Juan Capistrano 1.50

Santa Ana 1.78

*

Santa Ana Seasonal Totals

Season to date 7.35

Last season to date 0.00

Normal to date 2.42

Source: WeatherData Inc.