Powerful Storm Hits Southland

A powerful Pacific storm invaded Southern California with thundering surf, wind-driven rain and heavy snow Wednesday afternoon, snarling evening commuter traffic and posing the threat of serious coastal flooding.

The National Weather Service said the storm was moving onshore in two waves. The first should drop an inch to an inch and a half in the coastal areas by this morning, with about 2 inches at higher elevations, said Tim McClung, a meteorologist with the Weather Service in Oxnard. “There should be a brief lull [this] morning, then a second wave [this] afternoon and into Friday that will bring as much heavy rain as the first,” he said.

Dry soil, capable of absorbing a lot of moisture, and empty debris and storm basins should minimize the threat of flooding inland, except for pooling in low-lying areas, McClung said.

“The real concern is coastal flooding. The storm is propagating huge swells out in the Pacific--waves 30 to 35 feet tall,” he said. “There will be a tremendous increase in the surf here as these swells approach the shore. We’re forecasting waves up to 12 feet Thursday atop very high, astronomical tides.”

At about 10:15 p.m., the weather service issued flash flood warnings in Los Angeles County for the Conejo Valley, the San Gabriel Mountains foothills, and the Santa Monica Mountains foothills, including Malibu. The warnings mean floods may be occurring or imminent, but no specific reports had been received.

“This is the first one we’ve issued since the early part of 2000,” said meteorologist Ray Tanabe.

In Orange County, jail inmates helped residents build sandbag flood barriers in Surfside, a gated oceanfront community in Seal Beach that experienced some flooding Tuesday.

Bulldozers shored up a sand berm in front of some homes, but several residents were skeptical that the barrier, which crumbled during Tuesday’s high tide, would hold up under the much bigger waves expected today

“A few big waves, and that thing will be gone,” said Sonny Reser, who has lived in Surfside for six years.

In Newport Harbor, Orange County sheriff’s deputies moved several boats tied up near the mouth of the harbor, where large waves can snap mooring lines. In Laguna Beach, where big storms have flooded downtown streets in years past, fire stations handed out free sandbags.

In Commerce, the California Highway Patrol briefly shut down all northbound lanes of the Santa Ana Freeway at 7:45 p.m. because of flooding. Traffic was diverted at Trigg Street for about an hour before being let back on the commuter artery several blocks away, officials said.

Officials said the storm forced the delay or cancellation of numerous flights into and out of Los Angeles International Airport.

Rain was falling heavily by nightfall Wednesday, slowing traffic to a crawl on freeways and surface streets throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties. One accident at nightfall on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu backed up traffic for five miles.

Snow was piling up in the Tehachapi, San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains above 5,000 feet, and forecasters said the snow level would dip to 4,000 feet by dawn today, with blizzard conditions threatening travel through some of Southern California’s major mountain passes. ‘

The Weather Service said gusts of up to 70 mph, which is near hurricane force, wind-blown snow and patches of dense fog could create dangerous white-out conditions in some areas. As much as 20 inches of snow is expected at resort levels by Friday afternoon.

*

Times staff writer Bob Pool and correspondent Holly J. Wolcott contributed to this story.