Rain, snow pummel Southern Calif.
Flooding, mud wreak havoc on the morning commute. Two tornadoes reportedly touch down off the coast. The I-5 in the Grapevine area is again shut down.
The Southland was battered by a fifth day of winter rain this morning, with more showers and snow expected over the weekend, despite warming temperatures.
The weather wreaked havoc across the area today, forcing the continued closure of the Grapevine area of Interstate 5, which opened temporarily early this morning, and spilling mud and debris into a Beverly Hills home, officials said.
Witnesses also reported two tornadoes touching down off the coast on Thursday, one in Ventura County and the other at Dockweiler Beach near Los Angeles International Airport. One of the twisters tore the roof off a hangar at Port Hueneme after 7 p.m., weather officials said.
A flash-flood warning for central and western Los Angeles burn areas, including Griffith Park and Barham Boulevard in Burbank, expired this morning, downgraded to a flash-flood watch.
California Highway Patrol officials planned to escort about 1,000 cars in both directions across the Grapevine portion of Interstate 5 this morning, which has been shut down since Thursday due to snow conditions.
Although Caltrans snowplows had been working through the night, CHP officials hoped to evaluate conditions with the roughly hour-long escort to determine if they could reopen the major north-south artery that reaches an elevation of about 4,000 feet.
"It's still raining and snowing, kind of slushy right now," said CHP Officer Jason Bettini. Unlike Thursday, no motorists were stranded on the snowbound freeway today.
Still, Bettini urged commuters to use California 46 or 58 as alternate routes.
Flooding caused by heavy rains forced the temporary closure of the 710 freeway before dawn today.
Flowing mud also blocked the Atlantic Avenue offramp of the 405 Freeway north, with crews trying to clear the debris, said CHP Officer David Porter. And commuters on the westbound 101 Freeway have to dodge a pothole at Kanan Road that's blocking the far right lane, Porter said.
More showers and thunderstorms are forecast throughout today, with as much as a half an inch of rain expected to fall, and a break in the rains coming Saturday, said Stuart Seto, weather specialist with the http://www.weather.gov/alerts/ca.html">National Weather Service in Oxnard.
"It actually could be pretty nice as far as activity," Seto said. "You could get out and probably do something."
A low-pressure system moving in Sunday should bring more showers, but not as heavy as originally expected, Seto said. Winds are expected to gust up to 30 mph at the coasts and valleys, and 40 mph in the mountains.
About 3 inches of rain has fallen in downtown Los Angeles since Monday morning, more than all of last season, Seto said -- the driest on record.
A winter storm warning is in place for area mountains, where as much as 10 inches of snow could fall today; there is also a snow advisory in the Antelope Valley foothills .
Nearly a foot of snow piled up Thursday in the Frazier Park area near Interstate 5, Seto said, pushing the snow accumulation there to more than 3 feet.
susannah.rosenblatt@latimes.com
