RAIN EXPECTED TO RETURN TO REGION BY END OF WEEK.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

The Southland was expected to get a brief break from the wet weather today as a warm Pacific storm moves out of the region, but weather forecasters say rain will return by the end of the week.

Despite strong downpours Monday, Los Angeles is still drier than normal for the season.

``We're 3.5 inches below normal in downtown Los Angeles,'' said Jaime Smith, meteorologist for the National Weather Service, based in Oxnard.

The normal total for a rainy season in Los Angeles, measured from July 1 to June 30, is about 10.8 inches, she said.

Another system was expected to move in on Thursday or Friday, bringing about a half inch of rain, she said.

The California Highway Patrol reported 210 accidents on Los Angeles County freeways and unincorporated surface streets, mostly rain-related fender benders, between midnight and 7 a.m. Tuesday, compared with 35 for the same period last week.

``It was a very busy morning, with a lot of solo traffic collisions, especially on on- and off-ramps and freeway transition roads,'' CHP patrol Officer Francisco Villalobos said. ``Fortunately, there were no fatalities and no major-injury collisions.''

The heaviest rain fell in the Angeles National Forest, where some areas reported more than five inches.

About 7,100 Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers were without electricity Tuesday. As of 9 a.m., about 2,100 customers in the Silver Lake area, 1,200 downtown and 1,200 in El Sereno were without power, said Gale Harris of the DWP.

Since about 6:30 p.m. Monday, outages have affected 14,500 DWP customers in various areas, including downtown Los Angeles, Cheviot Hills and Canoga Park.