Pacific Storm Brings Rain, Snow, Accidents

The season’s first major storm passed through Southern California on Saturday, leaving up to an inch of rain along the coast, a foot of snow in the mountains and an uncountable number of traffic mishaps on the region’s roads.

But most residents suffered little more than a windy interruption to their night’s sleep as the Pacific cold front blew through. The rain began late Friday, tapered to showers by midday and in most of the region had ended by the late afternoon start of the USC-Notre Dame football game at the Coliseum.

Hundreds of people took to the mountains to enjoy the fresh snow. They made snowmen and threw snowballs along the Angeles Crest Highway in the Angeles National Forest. Some lowlanders filled truck beds full of snow to haul back down to the basin.

“It’s just beautiful up here,” said Hayle Holland, general manager of Newcomb’s Ranch restaurant near Mt. Waterman. About 3 inches of snow had fallen there by nightfall Saturday and brought more than 200 customers, she said.

Snow reached to about the 5,000-foot level, weather analysts said.

The region’s heaviest rain fell at Mt. Wilson, about 2 inches. Down below, Burbank received an inch and downtown Los Angeles about three-quarters.

Skies were expected to clear substantially overnight with lows in the upper 40s. Highs today are expected to be in the low- to mid-60s. No new precipitation is expected before Tuesday.

Police said there was a rash of traffic accidents Saturday, although what role weather played was unclear. One person died early Saturday in a single-car accident on I-5, and another was killed in a two-car accident Saturday afternoon in Santa Clarita.