Latest Storm Makes Life Difficult, Then Moves On

The latest in a series of Pacific storms to batter Los Angeles tangled traffic, slowed the morning commute and generally made life difficult for Southern Californians this morning, but it could have been a lot worse.

There were few reports of major freeway accidents, flooding or mud slides, and the National Weather Service predicted that rainfall might taper off today--at least temporarily.

By late morning, the storm system, which dumped more than an inch of rain on the city, seemed to be dying out, and the official forecast called for cloudy skies with light rain at times through the day with more rain likely tonight. Scattered showers were expected to end late Thursday.

Hedged Bets

But the weather service was hedging its bets a bit about another storm center about 400 miles off the coast that could hit Southern California later today.

“If it goes north, we won’t have much rain,” meteorologist Michael Lewis said, adding that “if it comes directly this way, we could have locally heavy amounts.

“We could get a shower that could just sit here and really dump on us,” he said.

A small-craft advisory was posted this morning for outer coastal waters from Point Conception to Santa Rosa Island, calling for 15-to-25 knot winds, and seas running 7 to 12 feet.

However, the weather service lifted flash-flood warnings for the hills around the Santa Monica Mountains and the mountainous areas of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, and most roads were open to traffic.

Malibu Canyon Road was closed for a time this morning by rock slides, but slide-prone Pacific Coast Highway and Topanga Canyon Boulevard remained open, thanks to the work of highway crews using grading equipment.

Long Commutes

Commutes from outlying areas of Los Angeles took nearly twice as long, as morning showers slowed freeway traffic to a crawl in some spots.

A spokeswoman for Los Angeles International Airport reported delays of up to 40 minutes, with flights taking off toward the east, rather than west over the ocean, because of rain and decreased visibility. Worse weather elsewhere--particularly in Northern and Central California--also contributed to delays, she said.

An official of the Los Angeles Open golf tournament said today’s celebrity pro-am event was cancelled due to the rain, but the regular tournament is still set to start Thursday.