COLD, WET AND WILD; RAIN, HAIL, SNOW HIT THE SOUTHLAND.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Daily News Staff Writer

Driving rain and scattered hail pelted the Southland on Tuesday, flooding intersections, contributing to a rash of traffic crashes and leaving up to a foot of snow in local mountains, weather officials said.

The frigid storm out of the Gulf of Alaska stalled as it followed the jet stream down the coast of California, leaving it to hover over Los Angeles throughout the day and dump nearly an inch of rain on some areas.

``It slowed down instead of trucking on through,'' said National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Hoffer.

As a result, a 40 percent chance of showers remained this morning, with partly cloudy and breezy conditions expected to prevail by the afternoon, he said.

Weather officials were uncertain about the outlook for the rest of the week.

Some forecasters said another storm could arrive Thursday, but the National Weather Service said the next chance of rain will not come until Sunday at the earliest.

Overnight lows before dawn Tuesday ranged from 38 degrees in Newhall to 47 degrees at the Los Angeles Civic Center. Chilly temperatures are also expected tonight, perhaps driving the snow level down to 3,500 feet.

Some mountain areas may get a foot of new snow by the time the storm moves out, said AccuWeather Inc. meteorologist Scott Homan.

For commuters the rain was a bigger concern as it arrived in time for the morning drive.

The California Highway Patrol reported a sharp increase in the number of crashes and collisions on highways in both the San Fernando Valley and across Los Angeles County.

In all of Los Angeles County, 256 crashes were reported between 5 and 11 a.m., compared to 85 crashes during the period a week earlier, CHP officials reported.

``The weather is a factor - the windshield wipers are going, people are running late, it's frustrating,'' said CHP Officer Dwight MacDonald of the West Valley station. ``People have to understand that in the rain they have to give themselves more time to get to work.''

In one of the more serious crashes believed to be rain-related, two cars collided head-on on Pacific Coast Highway, near Topanga Canyon Boulevard, about 8 a.m.

Carlos Alberto Ruiz, 24, of Oxnard drifted across the center divider and collided with a car driven by 48-year-old Topanga Canyon resident Russell Carl Paris Jr., officials said.

Neither car was traveling more than 40 mph and both men were treated for minor injuries, MacDonald said.

Malibu got about a quarter inch of rain, while areas more inland like the Getty Center and Santa Monica Pier got about .08 of an inch, Hoffer said.

Chatsworth received .07 of an inch and Van Nuys had about a half inch by mid-afternoon.

The storm brought the Civic Center's season-to-date rain total to 6.28 inches, which compares to 13.84 inches in a normal year and a staggering 27.27 inches during last year's El Nino.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, chart

PHOTO (1) Lauren Washburn, center, gets help from her Minnie Mouse umbrella Tuesday outside the Pierce College Performing Arts Center.

John Lazar/Daily News

(2) No one was seriously hurt when a sport utility vehicle plowed into a signal light after a collision in Woodland Hills on Tuesday.

Phil McCarten/Daily News

Chart: Rainfall totals