Powerful Storm Soaks County

A sluggish but powerful spring storm stalled over Southern California on Monday, bringing heavy rain that snarled traffic during the morning and evening rush hours.

Cloudy to partly cloudy skies are expected today and Wednesday before another weather system brings the chance of more rain late Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The National Weather Service forecast calls for some clouds, but no rain, for Easter Sunday.

In Orange County, Monday’s rainfall ranged from .20 inches in Villa Park to 1.93 inches in Silverado Canyon. The .53 of an inch recorded at Fullerton Airport broke a record for the day set in 1971.

Pooled rain caused by a plugged drain collapsed part of a Santa Ana industrial building’s roof. No one was injured, but about 30 employees had to be evacuated.

There were no fatalities or serious injuries on the county’s freeways, although fender-benders caused numerous delays, including several resulting from cars overturned on freeway shoulders.

“It was an eventful, rainy day, which gave people [many opportunities] to pause and reflect while waiting for accidents to clear,” said Officer Katrina Lundgren, a spokeswoman for the California Highway Patrol.

“It seemed as if people reverted to not knowing how to drive in the rain.”

Slippery pavement tripled the usual number of fender-benders elsewhere, but no serious injuries were reported.

One of the worst accidents involved a big-rig that overturned on the Golden State Freeway in the San Fernando Valley, tying up lanes in both directions for several hours during the morning.

The storm was relatively warm, and snow didn’t begin falling at resort levels in the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains until Monday night.

That didn’t matter much to ski resort operators, most of whom have closed for the year. And for people like Joe Terrell, a clerk at the San Bernardino County sheriff’s station at Big Bear Lake, the less snow, the better.

“It’s been raining up here, and for me, that’s just fine,” he said Monday afternoon. “I’m ready for spring.”

In the Los Angeles metropolitan area, rain totals at nightfall included 1.52 inches in Northridge, 1.37 in Glendale, 1.45 in Simi Valley and 1.27 in Altadena.

Only .58 of an inch was reported in downtown Los Angeles, but it raised the total for the season to 15.28 inches. That’s more than the normal season -- which runs from July 1 through June 30 -- total of slightly under 15 inches.

In Ventura County, Oxnard received .37 of an inch and Ventura .22 of an inch.