Thunderstorms Pelt Southland With Rain, Hail, Snow

Thunderstorms swept through scattered areas of Southern California Tuesday, dumping snow, hail and rain in areas from the Banning Pass in Riverside County to the Santa Clarita Valley and Kern County.

The storms slowed traffic and caused several minor accidents, officials said. The California Highway Patrol said roads in an area east of Beaumont, near the intersection of California 60 and Interstate 10, were covered with “seven inches of slush”--a mixture of snow and rain.

“We’re running from one accident to the other and getting them cleaned up,” CHP dispatcher June Welch said. Officers slowed traffic down to about 5 m.p.h., she said.

Banning Firefighter Gary Roglin said the storm was “worse than any summer or winter thunderstorm I’ve seen. It’s just been coming down in sheets, but we haven’t had any real bad accidents yet.”

Los Angeles County fire officials reported some flooding in buildings in the Newhall area, where 0.37 of an inch of rain was reported by late afternoon and half an inch of hail fell.

Between two and four inches of snow fell in mountain areas of Kern County.

“You just have a very strong little Pacific storm going through the area,” said Mike Rusnak, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.

The high temperature at Los Angeles’ Civic Center will be in the high 60s today, “but sunshine will return by Thursday and the high should be in the low 70s,” he said.