AT LAST!Byline: Ryan Oliver Staff Writer A large Pacific storm front rolled into the Southland south·land or South·land n. A region in the south of a country or an area. south  land·er n.Noun 1. on Thursday, delivering the first significant rainfall in the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. area since January. The storm was expected to continue well into Saturday, dousing Los Angeles with 1 to 1.5 inches of rain, while Ventura County and the foothills could see up to 3 inches, forecasters predict. ``The rain will stretch over a period of time,'' said weather specialist Stuart Seto with the National Weather Service. ``We're looking at less than one-tenth of an inch an hour max, so it's going to be a good gradual rain, something that will really soak into the ground.'' As a result, forecasters were not anticipating any inland flooding. But coastal areas could see minor flooding as the surf was expected to swell between 8 and 12 feet by today, Seto said. ``The water's going to get inland a little bit in some places, so people don't want to be out on the rocks.'' The previous weather year, which ended June 30, was the city's driest on record and produced only a scant 4.42 inches of precipitation precipitation, in chemistry precipitation, in chemistry, a process in which a solid is separated from a suspension, sol, or solution. In a suspension such as sand in water the solid spontaneously precipitates (settles out) on standing. at Los Angeles' downtown measuring station in 12 months - about 29 percent of the annual 15.14-inch norm. The last significant precipitation was on Jan. 27, when 0.67 inches was measured downtown. In Northern California Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The region contains the San Francisco Bay Area, the state capital, Sacramento; as well as the substantial natural beauty of the redwood forests, the northern , more substantial precipitation was expected, including 1 to 3 feet of snow possible for the upper elevations. With motorists not acclimated to wet conditions, Los Angeles police were gearing up for an increase in traffic accidents. Motorcycle officers typically looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. traffic violations have been assigned to patrol cars to handle collisions, said Capt. Grey Meyer with the Los Angeles Police Department's Valley Traffic Division. ``In rainy times, there's a dramatic increase in traffic accidents,'' Meyer said. ``We believe that happens because people in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, are not used to the rain. They drive a little too fast when the roads are slick. ``We will be out in force with more traffic officers covering accidents,'' he said. By Thursday evening, the LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. and California Highway Patrol highway patrol n. A state law enforcement organization whose police officers patrol the public highways. were not reporting any more crashes than normal. But Meyer cautioned that today's commutes would be more affected with heavier rain coming in. ``Reduced visibility and slick surfaces mean that motorists will need to modify their normal weather driving habits,'' said Arline Dillman, chief safety expert with the American Automobile Association American Automobile Association (AAA), federation of American automobile clubs, est. 1902. AAA provides a number of benefits to its members, including emergency road service; national and international travel assistance, e.g. of Southern California. ``Most crashes are preventable if motorists pay extra attention.'' Dillman said drivers need to slow down, particularly through puddles, and maintain two to three times more stopping distance between themselves and the car in front of them. She also advised drivers to use middle lanes when possible since water is more likely to accumulate on the side of a road. James Yannotta, manager of water system operations for the Los Angeles Department of Power and Water, said the storm would have little effect on the drinking water drinking water supply of water available to animals for drinking supplied via nipples, in troughs, dams, ponds and larger natural water sources; an insufficient supply leads to dehydration; it can be the source of infection, e.g. leptospirosis, salmonellosis, or of poisoning, e.g. supply. But he added that, despite the past year of drought, the agency had plenty of water available because it draws from a diverse supply. ``We don't see any problems for the next year even if there was another dry year,'' he said. The weather service is forecasting clearing skies by Sunday with plenty of sun for Monday and Tuesday. CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Edicta Perez, right, and her daughters, Sulli, 11, and Catherine, 6, protect themselves from the sprinkles Thursday in Van Nuys, as a Pacific storm front moved into the Southland. Michael Owen
(2 -- color) A surfer rides the waves as they grow stronger Thursday at Surfer's Point in Ventura. John McCoy/Staff Photographer (3) A time-exposure photo of traffic on the 210 freeway near La Tuna Canyon Road shows the storm approaching the Valley Thursday evening. Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion