Posted on 01/18/2007 5:56:03 AM PST by kellynla
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. -- Snow fell on the palm trees of West Los Angeles and Malibu Wednesday afternoon as Jack Frost visited the Southland again.
NBC4 forecaster Fritz Coleman said the mixture of precipitation in West Los Angeles at about 3 p.m. included a dusting of snow. Residents in West Los Angeles said the snow accumulated in parking lots, on cars and around palm trees near Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards and other areas.
Most of the snow fell south of Sunset Boulevard and just east of the 405 Freeway. Residents told NBC4 that several inches of snow fell in their yards.
The last snowfall recorded at Los Angeles International Airport was in January 1962, according to the National Weather Service. Trace amounts -- less than 0.5 inches -- were reported, according to the NWS.
Snow fell earlier Wednesday in Malibu and caused traffic problems on the area's winding and narrow roads. Sleet made driving treacherous on Kanan Dume Road, a steep route through the Santa Monica Mountains where it's more typical to see beach-bound cars loaded with surfboards than a snowplow.
"One of our sergeants said he hadn't seen anything like this in 20 years," said California Highway Patrol Officer Leland Tang at the West Valley Station.
A probation officer at a juvenile camp in the Santa Monicas said he was traveling down Kanan Dume when it began to snow.
"It was snowing pretty good," said Officer Oscar Cross. "The road was covered in ice and slush, and I saw one car slide into a ditch. Everyone seemed scared to drive."
Cross said that when he reached Pacific Coast Highway, the weather turned "nice and sunny."
"It's easy to mistake Malibu at sea level with the Malibu Hills," said Coleman. "Malibu Hills are about 550 feet to 580 feet. That's almost easy to understand. The sea-level snow is not."
More snow was reported in Canyon Country, where a resident said he has not seen snow for about 10 years.
In Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles, a portion of State Route 33 about 12 miles north of Ojai, was closed due to snow and ice, said Marie Raptis, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Transportation.
Snow, Ice Close Grapevine
Authorities closed the northbound Golden State (5) Freeway at Parker Road in northern Los Angeles County about 8:40 a.m., due to snow and ice on the section of the route popularly known as the Grapevine, the California Highway Patrol reported.
CHP officials said Wednesday evening that the road is expected to remain closed through the night.
"We're at the mercy of Mother Nature," said California Highway Patrol Officer Francisco Villalobos.
Southbound lanes were closed at Laval Road, Villalobos said.
CHP officers escorted motorists -- 100 vehicles at a time -- through the area earlier Wednesday. Vehicles were stopped on the side of the freeway as snowplows cleared paths.
"I go to work in Bakersfield, and I got stuck here," a trucker told NBC4. "It's beautiful."
CHP officers provided motorists with alternate routes, but warned that conditions on some of those roads also were dangerous because of ice and snow.
CHP Officer George White said about three inches of snow accumulated on the freeway, with a layer of ice underneath, causing a number of car and truck spinouts near the Pyramid Lake area. South of Pyramid Lake, in the Santa Clarita area, drivers were contending with hail and slushy snow.
Weather Pattern To Continue
The National Weather Service said the wintry precipitation was from an upper-level low moving through the region.
The cold set in late last week, bringing night after night of freezing overnight temperature to many parts of the state and causing extensive agricultural damage.
In the high desert north of Los Angeles, the early morning low was 8 degrees at Lancaster and 14 at Palmdale. Numerous other points in Southern California had lows in the 30s, with some areas in the 20s. Downtown Los Angeles was 44 overnight.
In the Van Nuys area of the San Fernando Valley, where the morning low was 35, a 6-inch water main broke and flooded a street. Service was cut to 30 homes, said Carol Tucker, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
The city's water mains don't freeze because they are underground, but extremely cold water can cause the cast iron pipes to crack, Tucker said.
Fire departments across Southern California have reported hundreds of calls in recent days about burst pipes. The Victorville courthouse got flooded when sprinkler heads ruptured, and broken irrigation lines may have caused a mudslide that blocked a private road to five Pasadena homes with 150 tons of debris Monday night.
A winter weather advisory is in effect for the mountains of Ventura and Los Angeles counties, including the Antelope Valley. Snow might fall as low as the 1,000-foot level. Rain, freezing rain, sleet, and hail are possible.
Highways could freeze overnight, and conditions are expected to be dangerous on the 5 Freeway north of Los Angeles, Highway 14 and Highway 138.
Coleman said there is a 20-percent chance of rain Wednesday night and into Thursday. Most of the rain is expected in Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange counties.
More cold and windy conditions are forecast for Thursday.
My daughter just called from near San Diego ... 30 degrees at her house right now.
I feel badly for anyone who has property damage due to freeze-ups, but this is kinda funny.
Maybe Weather Channel should put Dr. Heidi in a bikini and plunk her out on the Malibu beach in 30 degree weather for a live "global warming" update.
8 here this AM......30 would be a heat wave..:)
Of course, every global warming nut will say that this is happening due to global warming. I'm waiting in El Paso, Texas for our winter storm that's going to bring a foot of snow.
Can you say "El Nino"?
Here on the east coast they are whining because it is the warmest (so far) winter on record. I'll take the lower gas bill, thank you!
Heating and insulation of buildings in California sucks. At 8 degrees, you can feel pretty warm indoors in Mid-West, but at 40 degrees, you could basically freeze to death in L.A.
Nuclear winter?
The louder that global warming nutz scream the colder the weather we get. I wish they'd just shut up.
ping
And someone is finally learning that you can't grow crops in the snow. Global warming? Bring it on!!!
I predict record profits for citrus growers this year, thanks to obscenely large bailouts by Arnold.
It shouldn't. A well insulated house is going to be easier to keep cool with the air-conditioning running. It would save energy. It doesn't work just for heating in cold weather.
Unfortunately, there are many houses like that. To avoid quake damage, houses are usually built with wood or other light items. No thick concrete walls. No heavy duty heating system. They usually have small electric heater attached to walls, just enough to get by a brief chilly weather.
don't believe everything you read from FReepers. LOL
it's 30 degrees outside and 66 in my house this am when I got up with the central heat off all night(CA). Homes in CA have excellent insulation to keep our electric bills low during the summer months...
"Unfortunately, there are many houses like that. To avoid quake damage, houses are usually built with wood or other light items. No thick concrete walls. No heavy duty heating system. They usually have small electric heater attached to walls, just enough to get by a brief chilly weather."
Would you mind telling me what city in CA you are talking about?
Palo Alto.
Boy are you right. Forty degrees here in Southern California is "COLD"! I think we should be planning for "Global Freezing"!
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