Holiday Helps County Cope With Storm

Pea-size hail pelted part of Orange County Monday night, capping the first day of the season’s first real storm.

Police in Irvine said the hail was accompanied by thunder and lightning when it came down for about five minutes at about 9 p.m., but there were no reports of damage.

Because the storm arrived during a holiday, the serious traffic problems that officials had feared throughout the day never developed.

The California Highway Patrol said there were very few accidents that could be attributed to the rain and acknowledged that fewer motorists on the road due to the Veterans Day holiday helped the situation.

“The rains just came on a good day when many people were staying home from work,” one CHP officer said.

The storm system, which moved into the area overnight Sunday, lowered temperatures to the high 40s. And the temperature rose only to 58 late Monday afternoon when skies cleared a little and the sun peeked through for a few minutes before dusk fell.

The storm of the season also brought strong, chilly gusts that prompted some residents to bundle up with overcoats and hooded parkas. The wind blew at about 20 m.p.h. most of the day and gusted at times to almost 30 m.p.h.

The forecast calls for temperatures to remain cool until Wednesday when a warming trend should take effect, the National Weather Service said. About a 30% chance of scattered showers also was predicted for today, although the weather service said the bulk of the rain already had fallen.

The Laguna Beach Fire Department said that if the rain continued, some areas of Laguna Canyon Road left barren by fires during the summer could begin to flood.

The downpours Monday morning brought almost an inch of rain to Laguna Beach. The .96 inch that fell there pushed the seasonal total to 1.24 inches. About an inch of rain fell in San Juan Capistrano, but officials said that threats of mud slides at Capistrano Beach never developed. San Clemente also reported no problems with the rain.

Newport Beach received the county’s lowest total, recording only .48 inch of rain. Santa Ana, which had the day’s high temperature of 58, received .80 inch.

Although no serious accidents occurred in Orange County, in Corona police said that wet roads were responsible for several accidents, including one involving two Costa Mesa girls.

The girls were passengers in a car that slid through a sign at the end of a ramp from the eastbound Riverside Freeway to a southbound lane of Interstate 15. The car slid into traffic, bounced off a truck and slammed into another car.

Jessica Beegle, 9, suffered a fractured skull. She was taken to Corona Community Hospital and then transferred to the intensive care unit at Childrens Hospital of Orange County. She was reported in serious but guarded condition.

Cathy Michalske, 8, suffered cuts and was treated and released from the Corona hospital. No one else was injured.