Drizzle Brings a Drove of Accidents to Southland

Although the first storm of the year dropped only about a quarter inch of rain, it created a nightmarish commute Wednesday, with more than 300 accidents and several injuries in the Southland.

A reprieve is expected until Sunday, when rain could come again, forecasters said.

The worst accident occurred at midmorning when a truck jackknifed and careened into several vehicles on the Pomona Freeway near City of Industry, the California Highway Patrol said. Three people were injured, one critically, and traffic was tied up for about four hours when authorities closed two eastbound lanes.

On freeways across the area, commuters were slowed by frequent fender benders.

“People are like sheep,” said LAPD Officer Gil Ramos. “Everybody’s following each other. When one trips and falls, the others do too.”

Wednesday’s drizzle did little to change the fact that this is one of the driest winters in recent history. The season total is only about 2 inches, well below the normal 6.60 inches for this time of year, said Jeff House, a meteorologist for WeatherData Inc. Last winter was unusually wet because of El Nino, and 8.16 inches of rain had been recorded by Jan. 20.

Last month, only 0.54 of an inch of rain fell, an unusually low amount. Forecasters attribute the dryness to La Nina, during which a large ridge of high pressure tends to remain anchored over the northern Pacific, diverting the jet stream and its storms north of Southern California.

In Ventura County, Somis rancher Craig Underwood said the scant amount delivered by the first rain of 1999 did little for his citrus and vegetable crops. “It settled the dust and that’s about it,” he said.

Farm advisor Ben Faber, who works for the University of California, agreed that the rain made little difference for growers but said he isn’t concerned about La Nina. “If we’re looking at five to eight years of drought, then we’ve got a problem,” he said. “But we’ve been able to weather one or two years pretty well.”

Today is expected to be partly cloudy and breezy with highs in the mid-60s.

“A storm is coming across the Pacific and will be dragging a cold front through the Los Angeles area,” House said. “It doesn’t look terribly big. But to determine how much rain L.A. will get, we’ll have to see exactly where the storm goes.”

On Wednesday, even CHP officers had difficulty negotiating the slick surfaces. One officer slid off the road and into a guardrail in the morning as he approached the onramp to the Golden State Freeway, just north of Magic Mountain, said Officer Doug Sweeney, a CHP spokesman. The officer was not seriously hurt.

Caltrans driver Paul Chavez, 40, was killed when he lost control of his truck--for undetermined reasons--Tuesday night on the rainy Foothill Freeway and plunged down an embankment, said CHP Officer Lou Aviles. It wasn’t clear, however, if the rain caused to lose control.