AREA GETS BLANKET OF SNOW BULK OF STORM MOVES ON, LEAVING POTHOLES IN ITS WAKE.

Byline: Amy Raisin Darvish Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Following a second night of heavy rains, a swift-water rescue team extended its assignment at a local fire station Wednesday, while traffic on local freeways was uneventful, save for a few potholes, authorities said.

The bulk of the two-day storm - which dropped more than 5 inches of rain on the Newhall area between Monday and Wednesday afternoons - has largely passed, but forecasters cautioned everyone to keep those umbrellas handy.

A second, less forceful weather system is expected to arrive this evening, bringing with it a chance of showers through Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

``Mother Nature threw this really strong low-pressure system at us'' last week, Bill Hoffer, a spokesman for the NWS, said Wednesday. ``Another system is heading our way, but nothing like what we've experienced the past couple of days.

Motorists in the Santa Clarita Valley fared much better Wednesday than the previous day, when two people were killed in crashes on the rain-soaked Golden State Freeway. The most significant traffic delays Wednesday came in the afternoon, when state Transportation Department crews were summoned to fill a few large potholes on southbound Interstate 5 in the Newhall Pass.

One of the Los Angeles County Fire Department's seven swift-water rescue teams was assigned Wednesday to Fire Station 73 in Newhall, where it had spent the previous 24 hours in case of an emergency caused by the heavy rains.

The two-day downpour dropped 5.3 inches of rain in the Newhall area, more than three inches of which fell in the first 24 hours, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works. The area has recorded nearly 15 inches of rain since Oct. 1.

``We place the (swift-water rescue) teams in strategic areas where there may be any natural or man-made flood control channels, or burned-out areas,'' said county fire Inspector Ron Haralson. ``We try to set them in areas throughout the county where we anticipate'' heavy flooding.

The swift-water team was expected to remain at the San Fernando Road station until 8 p.m. Wednesday. Any assignment beyond that time would depend on the weather and forecasts, Haralson said.

Forecasts call for a chance of showers through Tuesday, with partly cloudy to cloudy skies. During that span, highs are predicted to be in the mid-50s to lower 60s, with overnight lows in the mid-40s to low 50s, according to the NWS.

Amy Raisin Darvish, [phone]

amy.raisin(at)dailynews.com

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4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Marley Marra, 10, of Burbank and Kyle Schrader, 13, of Simi Valley, go sledding at Frazier Park on Wednesday after a storm left the area blanketed in snow.

(2) Snow blanketed Frazier Park overnight, leaving perfect conditions for making snowmen among the snow-covered trees.

(3 -- 4) Noelle and Dale Payne of Lebec put the finishing touches on their snowman, above, at Frazier Park on Wednesday after a storm left the area blanketed in snow. Left, horses graze in the snow in Gorman as clouds roll through the area Wednesday.

David Crane/Staff Photographer