Storm Moves Out of North, Brings More Rain, Snow

A winter storm that dropped snow over much of the northern half of the state began moving into Southern California Tuesday night, bringing a few rain showers to the Los Angeles Basin and more snow in Southland mountains.

Although it will not feel much warmer, forecasters said, the cloudy skies will bring a slight easing of the chill that caused some damage to sensitive crops and made life even harder for Southern California’s homeless over the Christmas weekend.

The cold, clear weather Sunday and Monday prompted a record number of homeless people to seek shelter provided by the city of Los Angeles.

Housing officials said the number of beds provided by the county’s shelter and hotel voucher program during the current cold spell is expected to be more than triple last year’s total.

Los Angeles officials said Tuesday that because of predictions of light rain and temperatures in the low 40s in the metropolitan area this morning, they were extending the shelter program for a sixth consecutive night.

In Southern California light snow was reported at most mountain ski resorts Tuesday night, and there were traces of rain in the Civic Center in the early evening.

Death Reported

Los Angeles County coroner’s deputies said the death of a man in an unheated house in the Highway Highlands area of Glendale may be related to the cold.

There were long delays for motorists using the vital Grapevine portion of Interstate 5 between Los Angeles and Bakersfield.

California 58 between Bakersfield and Tehachapi was closed for three hours, then opened to limited traffic because of heavy snow. Kern County firefighters reported trouble in making their way through the snow to several accidents.

A mountain rescue team was activated to bring out five lightly dressed hikers who became stranded near a waterfall in Eaton Canyon above Altadena.

“It’s raining and cold up there now, and there will probably be snow and freezing temperatures before the night is over,” county Fire Department Capt. DeWitt Morgan said. “We couldn’t get the helicopters in there because fog and rain closed in on them.”

Conditions in North

In San Francisco, armories were opened to the homeless Monday night as the storm swept through the northern end of the state, dusting the Twin Peaks area with a trace of snow and dropping accumulations of up to 6 inches at Willits, Garberville, Cloverdale, Lakeport, Redway, Ukiah and in some suburban areas around Sacramento.

The National Weather Service said Tuesday that snow had fallen over “almost all of Northern California” and was spreading into the central part of the state. The thermometer dropped to 27 in San Francisco, 13 in Alturas and 14 below zero at South Lake Tahoe.

Rhonda A. Witzel, office manager of San Jose Sterilized Wiping Rags Inc., said she first noticed snow falling on downtown San Jose at about 9 a.m. Tuesday.

“I thought I was seeing things,” she said. “I’ve lived in San Jose my whole life and I’ve never seen snow here before.”

Snow closed dozens of main Northern California thoroughfares, It was not quite as cold in the Southland Tuesday morning, but thermometer readings did dip below freezing in many areas, threatening citrus, avocado and strawberry crops in Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties and causing minor damage in the coldest areas.

Wind machines and orchard heaters--the modern equivalent of the smoky smudge pots of yesteryear--were used to protect lemons and oranges in Riverside and Ventura counties, and because of some gentle winds that stirred in upper-level layers of warmer air, frost loss was held to a minimum. Several citrus and avocado farmers in Fillmore hired private helicopters to hover over their groves to fan away colder ground air.

Rick Dittmann, a meteorologist for WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times, said the main body of the storm should arrive in the Los Angeles area before dawn today, with showers and thundershowers over the coastal and foothill communities, and snow expected above 2,000 to 3,000 feet.

“Some places around Los Angeles will get up to half an inch of rain, but most will be closer to a quarter. There will be up to 6 inches of snow in some places, but most will get less,” he said.

Trouble Spot

In the usual trouble spot, the Grapevine on Interstate 5 from Lake Hughes Road to Grapevine in Kern County, California Highway Patrol officers closed down the wide roadway to two lanes and led convoys of vehicles through at 40 m.p.h. Tuesday night

As of Tuesday night, 4.48 inches of rain had fallen at the civic center, less than 5.21 inches that had fallen at the same time last year but above the average of 4.08 for the same period.

Temperatures will dip into the low 40s in the metropolitan area this morning, rising to the mid-50s by midday as breezes pick up and the storm moves east, Dittmann said.

He said that with clearing skies and diminishing winds, temperatures early Thursday should dip back close to 30 in the coldest wind-protected areas of the Los Angeles Basin.

The body of Dennis Buechler, 47, was found by a relative in his unheated house in the 3700 block of 3rd Avenue in north Glendale Tuesday morning.

Role of Cold

“He was found in a cold environment, so we have to investigate what role the cold weather played in his death,” supervising Coroner’s Deputy Joseph Gruber said.

The high at the Los Angeles Civic Center Tuesday was 55, after an overnight low of 37. Relative humidity ranged between 33% and 64%.

Malnic reported from Los Angeles and Stevens from San Francisco. Times staff writers Stephanie Chavez and Nieson Himmel also contributed to this story.