Rain Leads to ‘Havoc’ on Roads

April showers--thanks to a cold front from the Gulf of Alaska--triggered hundreds of rain-related accidents on Los Angeles County roads Saturday.

Between midnight and midday, the California Highway Patrol reported 745 traffic collisions, with one fatality, across the county. During that same period a week ago there were 160 wrecks, said CHP Officer Charles Blair.

“The weather played havoc with the traffic today,” Blair said.

National Weather Service meteorologists said a fast-moving cold front from Alaska brought a chill to Southern California on Saturday.

“It was certainly a little colder than usual,” said meteorologist Ben Moyer. “The high temperature of the day in downtown Los Angeles was 59 degrees, compared to usual 71 degrees.”

The weather service said that by 5 p.m. Saturday, Pasadena had received 1.37 inches of rainfall, Newhall 1.06 inches, West Covina 0.87 inches and downtown Los Angeles 0.64 inches.

The unstable air mass dropped 12 to 14 inches of new snow at Mt. Baldy, and wintry weather conditions were reported throughout Southern California’s mountains, with winds up to 50 mph.

“It is getting late in the year for that kind of snow,” Moyer said. Pea-size hail also dropped on some neighborhoods Saturday.

Moyer said skies today should be partly cloudy with high temperatures in the low 60s.

The traffic fatality Saturday occurred early in the morning in San Dimas.

The driver of an 18-wheeler died after his truck slammed into a stalled Nissan 300 ZX on the Foothill Freeway shortly before 5 a.m. The double-trailer rig bounced off the car and plummeted 100 feet onto San Dimas Avenue. “The impact caused the rig to ignite, killing the driver,” Blair said. The driver’s identity was not known late Saturday.