Southland Can Expect Relief From Storms

After three days of torrential rains, heavy snow, localized flooding, power outages and stalled cars, meteorologists are expecting a complete turn in the weather.

“It looks like Saturday and Sunday should be mostly sunny and normal,” said Alan Shoemaker, meteorologist with Weather Central, which provides forecasts for The Times. “There will be a few clouds, but the rain is finally over.”

Since Jan. 1, the Los Angeles area has had 4.58 inches of rain, a considerable jump from the inch that had fallen by Jan. 12 last year.

Some areas, including Bel-Air, Chatsworth and Woodland Hills, received about 5 inches of rain in the persistent storm that finally moved out to the east Friday night.

“I can take rain,” said Reginald Harmon, an outdoor sports director for Robinson Park in Pasadena. “But three days in a row, that’s just too much. I’m ready for things to get back to normal.”

Things were business as usual for the Los Angeles Fire Department and the city’s Department of Water and Power on Friday, despite scattered showers around the Southland in the afternoon. Both departments had juggled hundreds of calls related to the storm. The Fire Department had 183 calls about power outages and other problems--roughly three times the normal number--during the storm’s heaviest downpour, which lasted from about midnight to 1 a.m. Thursday.

“We haven’t had a rain-related call since 7:42 a.m. Thursday,” said a Los Angles Fire Department spokesman. “Thankfully, it looks like people are fixing problems themselves.”

A spokeswoman with the Department of Water and Power said that all weather-related power outages had been fixed by Friday.