Just the Usual Winter Storm . . . in May

A winter-like storm dropped 1.12 inches of rain on Anaheim and 0.48 of an inch on Newport Beach late Tuesday and early Wednesday, but the unseasonable weather caused little damage, officials said.

John Sherwin, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times, said the cold rain came from the outer fringe of a storm centered 100 miles north of Los Angeles. The system brought 2 to 8 inches of snow to the Tehachapi and San Gabriel mountains at elevations above 5,000 feet.

“This has all the makings of a typical winter storm,” Sherwin said. “The only problem is that if you look up at the calendar you realize it’s May.”

In a month that usually brings only a quarter-inch of rain and temperatures in the 80s, Orange County has received well over an inch of rain this May already, Sherwin said. And Wednesday’s high temperature in Fullerton was barely 60 degrees.

The downpour did erode a hillside in Irvine, sending silt onto the MacArthur Boulevard onramp to the Corona del Mar Freeway, but damage was minimal.

“We had it cleaned up by noon with two dump trucks. It wasn’t that big of a deal,” said Dale Dillon, field operations manager for the county Operations and Maintenance Department.

The California Highway Patrol received more calls than usual about traffic accidents, but no serious injuries were reported, Officer Mike Richardson said.

The forecast for today and Friday calls for sunshine, Sherwin said, but Saturday could bring more rain.