CHILLIN' OUT; DIP IN TEMPERATURE SPURS AREA WARNING.Byline: Jesse Hiestand Daily News Staff Writer An unrelenting blast of arctic air put the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. under a freeze warning overnight Monday, threatening pets and plants, straining space heaters and greeting motorists with a frosty morning commute. With the warning, valleys in 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. and Ventura counties were expected to plunge into subfreezing sub·freez·ing adj. Below freezing. temperatures for at least two hours before dawn today. Forecasters said lows in the Valley would hover between 30 and 36 degrees, with highs in the low 50s, just one week after the area basked in summerlike highs in the 80s. ``It's sunny one day and freakin' cold the next week. What's wrong with the weather?'' said Baris Zakarian, a salesman at Vista Lexus in Woodland Hills near dusk Monday. Working the lot with long underwear under his business shirt and tie, Zakarian said he savored the moments when he could duck inside to do paperwork by a heater. ``You learn to appreciate the warmth.'' A slight warming is predicted by this weekend with high temperatures Christmas Day reaching into the upper 50s and, by Saturday, into the 60s, which is more the norm for this time of year, said National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Sirard. The cold dip set a record low of 29 degrees in Ventura before dawn Monday, the first day of winter, compared with the previous low of 33 degrees in 1968, Sirard said. Though no records were shattered shat·ter v. shat·tered, shat·ter·ing, shat·ters v.tr. 1. To cause to break or burst suddenly into pieces, as with a violent blow. 2. a. , Chatsworth reached 34 degrees overnight Sunday, compared with 33 degrees in Burbank, 38 degrees in Van Nuys, 31 degrees in Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. and 16 degrees in Lancaster. More records could be set today, Sirard said Monday. ``We're looking at temperatures falling in the coldest areas into the upper 20s,'' he said. Icy conditions closed the Golden State Freeway The Golden State Freeway is a north-south freeway running through Kern County and Los Angeles County, California. Originally built as U.S. Highway 99, it was re-signed as Interstate 5 in 1964. overnight Sunday through the Grapevine, leaving hundreds of motorists stranded Monday morning in Castaic in the biting chill. Whole families, lone drivers and an endless parade of truckers stuck out the 11-hour freeway closure, sleeping in vehicles parked three and four deep along Castaic's highways. ``Can you imagine what it's like sleeping all night in a minivan with three kids?'' said Carmel Catapang, stranded with her husband and her three children, ages 7, 5 and 1-1/2. When the Cornerstone outreach center in Van Nuys opened at 7 a.m. Monday, mental health counselor A mental health counselor is a professional who provides counseling to individuals, couples, families, groups, or larger systems. A mental health counselor may also have training in educational and vocational counseling (MacCluskie & Ingersoll 2001). Jeffrey Gaither found eight people huddled outside the front door, clamoring clam·or n. 1. A loud outcry; a hubbub. 2. A vehement expression of discontent or protest: a clamor in the press for pollution control. 3. A loud sustained noise. for the heat and a meal. ``A lot of them said the weather was just the worst they've seen in a while,'' Gaither said. The Valley's largest cold-weather shelter, run by the nonprofit L.A. Family Housing Corp., was four people above capacity Sunday with 144 people at the North Hollywood shelter, officials said. ``A lot of these people prefer to stay to stay on the streets, but the cold will even drive those people to seek shelter,'' said Joe Zuniga, program coordinator of the winter shelter, which opened Wednesday. With no limit on how long a person can stay, 80 percent of the shelter's beds already have been reserved through the end of the program Feb. 28, Zuniga said. ``One of our concerns now is overflow.'' Also at risk in these freezing temperatures are plants, especially crops in parts of Ventura County. In the Valley, nursery workers say potted pot·ted adj. 1. a. Placed in a pot. b. Grown in a pot: many potted plants in the study. 2. Preserved in a pot, can, or jar. 3. Slang a. plants that spend most of the year outdoors should be brought indoors or at least placed next to an outside wall of the house, since it absorbs heat during the day and radiates it at night. ``The frost goes straight down so just dragging something under an eaves, awning or cover helps for starters,'' said Tor MacInnis, retail manager at Boething Treeland Nursery in Woodland Hills. Another survival strategy is to water plants in the early evening because this will help insulate the root system, he said. Daily News Staff Writer Patricia Farrell Aidem contributed to this story. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1--Color) Temperatures that dipped into the low 30s in Simi Valley left trees coated with ice early Monday at Rancho Simi Rancho San José de Nuestra Senora de Altagarcia y Simi is one of the land grants in California by the Spanish government. The name derives from Shimiji, the name of the Chumash village here before the Spanish. Community Park. Andy Holzman/Daily News (2--Color) The weather went to the dogs as Ripley donned a coat for her walk with Evelyn and Gary Freeman Gary Freeman is the name of:
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