Gray Skies Are Gonna Clear Up

Clearing skies and slightly warmer temperatures mean there probably will be no repeat today of the rain-snarled commute that plagued drivers throughout Orange County on Thursday morning.

Early morning fog is expected today, and a series of extremely high tides this weekend also is expected to keep residents watchful.

However, the forecast is for clearing skies, higher temperatures and modest easterly winds, all of which should aid residents in low-lying coastal areas.

County commuters faced an extreme challenge Thursday as a soft and persistent rain severely disrupted morning traffic. Five major accidents on Orange County freeways created huge backups. Crashes on the Artesia, San Diego and Santa Ana freeways led to five Sig Alerts and several injuries.

The El Toro Y was in turmoil throughout the morning commute. Three serious accidents, at 6:45, 7:41 and 9:43, rendered it a parking lot for hours, a CHP spokesman said.

Radio reports of the jam caused many commuters to switch to the San Joaquin Hills toll road, and that caused some slowing and congestion on the usually free-flowing highway.

The situation was not much better on surface streets, where patrol officers dealt with a string of minor crashes.

“They drive badly because they drive as if it’s not raining,” said Huntington Beach Lt. Dan Johnson. “They don’t leave enough space. They drive fast. They don’t slow down, and they don’t anticipate well because it takes longer to stop and turn. They’re just not used to bad weather.”

In Anaheim, there were eight to 10 accidents and a minor power outage in the west end, said Anaheim Police Sgt. Jim Moorer. “It’s a real mess,” he said.

Coinciding with the rain was an unusually high tide, which shut one northbound lane of Pacific Coast Highway in Sunset Beach. Though traffic backed up the highway remained open, said Huntington Beach Sgt. Gary Meza.

In Newport Beach, water went over a private sea wall on River Avenue and flooded one home. Firefighters helped pump out the home, and the city provided sandbags for residents to buttress the sea wall for the anticipated high tides today and Saturday, city spokesman Mike Pisani said.

“The tide was about 1.2 feet higher than predicted,” he said. “Tides have been running persistently higher [than charted] for several months.”

The tide, which crested at 6 feet, 7 inches at 7:38 a.m., is expected to reach 6 feet, 8 inches at 8:16 a.m. today. Another 6-foot-8 tide is expected Saturday; then it will drop off.

“Friday is a big day in terms of the tide,” said Huntington Beach Public Works Director Les M. Jones. “We will be prepared for that.”

In Sunset Island, an unincorporated area in Huntington Harbour, Huntington Beach public works officials reported that water rose into side streets from the bay but not into homes. Public works employees deployed bladders designed to divert water from the area.

Residents of Crystal Cove said the rainfall had created a large slick of silt running out of Trancas Creek. The “brown goo” spread north toward Newport Coast Drive and Pelican Point for about a quarter of a mile, one resident said. Trancas Creek is next to the site of a new Irvine Co. project called Wishbone Hill, where clearing is underway.

An Irvine Co. spokesman said the company has done considerable erosion control in the area, including placing plastic and anti-silt fencing, as well as sandbagging.

“It s a pretty uniform rainfall event,” said a supervisor with the Orange County Public Facilities and Resources Department, which reported about 0.70 inch in Silverado Canyon. Huntington Beach saw 0.63 inch and Newport Beach and Cypress had 0.87 inch.

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Times staff writers Geoff Boucher and David Reyes contributed to this story.

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Shower Power

Thursday’s rain boosted this season’s total to date to well more than twice the normal amount. Totals in inches as of 4 p.m., recorded in Santa Ana:

Season to date: 2.25

Last season to date: 0.98

Normal to date: 1.02

Source: WeatherData Inc.