Light Rain Slows L.A. Commuters

Light showers sprinkled the Los Angeles Basin on Tuesday, slowing evening freeway commuters to a crawl and pushing rain totals to nearly three inches above the norm.

Los Angeles has received 9.74 inches of rain since July 1, compared with an average rainfall for this time of year of 6.87 inches, said Curtis Brack, a meteorologist for WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.

The light rain was expected to continue today as a Pacific storm blows through California--the third to come ashore from the central Pacific in the last week.

Despite the wet weather, residents were lucky in one respect: The storms that appeared since late last week have reserved the brunt of their force for the northern half of the state.

California Highway Patrol units welcomed that fact, even if freeway commutes in some cases increased from one hour to two.

“If it remains this way with very light rain, it should not be of great significance,” said CHP Sgt. Ernie Garcia, “but we still caution motorists to slow down and to increase following distances.”

The weather failed to register a psychic blip among the skiers and outdoor enthusiasts who frequent local mountain ranges. They were taking it all in stride.

Skies were gray at the Snow Summit ski area in Big Bear, but snow was nowhere in sight Tuesday. It was the same story at the mountain town of Idyllwild, which was inundated with two feet of snow over a three-day period last week.

“It’s quite threatening but not snowing yet,” Pat Conner, marketing coordinator for the Idyllwild Chamber of Commerce, said Tuesday afternoon. “The Chamber of Commerce loves it when it snows.”

Conner and other Idyllwild boosters were counting on weather forecasts that indicated today’s storm would produce some snow.

Tuesday’s storm brought about half an inch of rain, while today’s scattered showers were expected to drop as much as 1 1/2 inches of rain in Los Angeles and up to 4inches in mountain areas. The National Weather Service issued a flash-flood watch through tonight for burn areas in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.