STORM SNARLS TRAFFIC; VALLEY MOTORIST KILLED DRIVER KILLED AS RAIN SNARLS TRAFFIC.

Byline: Dominic Berbeo and Lisa Van Proyen Staff Writers

The strongest storm of the season dropped as much as an inch of rain across the Los Angeles region Tuesday, snarling traffic and triggering a massive accident that killed a motorist in Lake View Terrace on the Foothill Freeway.

Skies are expected to clear today, but another storm could bring rain by Thursday night and Friday, along with low temperatures in the upper 40s and highs in the mid-60s, according to the National Weather Service.

The storm brought almost an inch of rain - 0.81 of an inch - in Woodland Hills, 0.7 in Northridge, 0.53 in Van Nuys and 0.64 in Pasadena.

The storm paled in comparison with a powerful northeaster that dropped up to a foot of snow back east and stopped flights from Los Angeles International Airport to most East Coast destinations.

In Los Angeles the rain brought the season total to 1.3 inches, but was not nearly enough to raise levels up near normal. Average rainfall by this time of the rainy season, which began July 1, is 7.2 inches, said Gary Ryan, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

``The good news is that it was a good soaking rain that went down to the roots of vegetation,'' Ryan said. ``We're not in a dangerous dry spell yet, but if we get a couple more dry years like this, we might find ourselves in a critical situation.''

Rain began to fall just in time for the morning commute and is being blamed for a fatal crash in Lake View Terrace that jammed traffic for four hours.

Ralph Rivera, 56, of Northridge was killed about 5 a.m. after his car slammed into a trailer that had detached from a big rig on the eastbound 210 Freeway, just west of Osborne Street, authorities said.

``It pretty much ripped off the roof of the Saturn. The vehicle continued across lanes and down the side of an embankment,'' said Tami Delva, a California Highway Patrol spokesman.

Within two minutes after the first crash, an armored truck ran into the side of another truck that jackknifed when the driver tried to avoid the wreckage, Delva said.

Three people in the armored truck were injured. One of them, Paul Costello, 45, suffered head injuries that left him in critical condition, hospital officials said.

CHP officers shut down the eastbound lanes of the freeway at the collision scene for about four hours, backing up morning commuters for miles. The lanes were reopened at 9:40 a.m.

Countywide, there were 160 crashes on freeways from 5 to 9 a.m., compared with 62 during the hours on a recent dry Tuesday morning, said CHP Sgt. Ernie Sanchez.

Other crashes included a 13-vehicle chain-reaction pileup about 4 a.m. Tuesday on another stretch of the Foothill Freeway. Two people were injured - neither severely, said CHP Officer Richard Perez.

A pickup truck driver hit a Chevrolet Blazer, which rolled onto its side, blocking traffic. This triggered crashes of 11 other vehicles, including eight big rigs, the CHP said. The pickup driver fled the scene, Perez said.

Elsewhere, the rain set off a small rockslide about 5:30 a.m. on Kanan Dume Road, about two miles north of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Sgt. Frank Kasko of the Lost Hills station. Motorists avoided injuries or major traffic tie-ups were reported as a result of the slide, Kasko said.

As is typical after rain, county health officials warned swimmers to stay out of the ocean for 72 hours because of a high level of storm-related pollution washed to sea from city streets.

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Photo: Lily Cardenas holds the hand of her daughter, Lily Najarro, 4, as the two walk in the rain Tuesday on Van Nuys Boulevard.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer