Storm Brought Record Breaking Rainfall to Long Beach

The cold, windy that swept across Southern California Friday broke rainfall records, caused power outages and an increase in automobile accidents. 

Rainfall records for this date were established in downtown Los Angeles, breaking a record set in 1956, while the rainfall record at Los Angeles International Airport which was also set in 1956, was tied, according to the National Weather Service. 

Records were also set at Long Beach Airport, Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, Palmdale Airport and in Lancaster.

Snowfall prompted the California Highway Patrol to close northbound Interstate 5 through the Grapevine shortly before 10 p.m. Northbound lanes were closed at Parker Road, said CHP Officer Patrick Kimball. The southbound lanes were closed at the bottom of the grade at Grapevine Road north of Fort Tejon, according to a CHP dispatcher.

Between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m., 249 accidents were reported on Los Angeles County freeways, compared with 68 reports during the same five-hour period last Friday, when conditions were dry, California Highway Patrol Officer Ed Jacobs said. 

About noon, electricity service to about 500 Southern California Edison customers in West Hollywood was knocked out, utility spokesman Danny Chung said. Officials from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power reported 5,000 customers without power in Del Rey, Exposition Park, Gramercy Park and Westlake. Crews worked to restore service. 

Elsewhere, the wet weather appeared to be responsible for malfunctioning traffic signals at four intersections near Pacific Coast Highway and Second Street in Long Beach, the Long Beach Police Department reported. The storm rolled through Santa Barbara and Ventura counties early today before reaching Los Angeles County, according to the National Weather Service.

The Antelope Valley was the first area in the county to report rain this morning. The storm system will continue to bring scattered rain and snow showers along with gusty winds to the mountains through Friday night, according to the National Weather Service.

The snow level will fall to between 3,500 and 4,000 feet in the Los Angeles and Ventura County portions of the San Gabriel mountains.

A winter-storm warning -- indicating an expectation of heavy snow and hazardous conditions -- will be in effect in the Los Angeles and Ventura county portions of the San Gabriel mountains until 3 a.m. Saturday.

Forecasters said the storm, the second this week, also would stir up high winds at lower elevations. A wind advisory will continue until 2 p.m.  Saturday in coastal and metropolitan Los Angeles, Catalina Island and the Antelope Valley.