A tornado flipped a big-rig truck, derailed a freight train and clogged a major interstate for several miles Thursday as a wild spring thunderstorm hopscotched across Southern California dumping hail, rain and snow.
The most severe damage was reported in Riverside County, where dark, towering funnel clouds spun across the communities east and west of the 215 Freeway corridor. In Orange County, walls of water, mud and debris -- some 8 feet high -- battered eastern canyons that had burned in last year's wildfires, leaving behind a muddy mess but little major damage and no injuries.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday, June 04, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 31 words Type of Material: Correction
Air base: A front-page caption in some May 23 editions described tornadoes touching down near March Air Force Base in Riverside County. The base is known as March Air Reserve Base.
The highly unstable and unpredictable conditions were expected to last through today, along with unseasonably cool temperatures, according to the National Weather Service.
Shortly before 5 p.m. Thursday in Riverside County, one of two funnel clouds tossed a line of 30-ton rail cars off their tracks and overturned a tractor-trailer truck, blocking the northbound lanes of the 215 Freeway. Rush-hour traffic backed up for at least eight miles, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The truck driver was pulled from the wreckage and taken to a hospital with minor to moderate injuries.
"It's quite large," CHP officer Jaci Parent said of the tornado as it churned west of the interstate Thursday evening.
The tornado then headed toward Perris, where it caused power outages and minor damage before dissipating.
"I drove through it and have never seen weather like this," said Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez, spokesman for the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
A blanket of hail turned neighborhoods white in Baldwin Park and Irwindale, drawing crowds of children into the streets to play with the ice. Snow dusted higher elevations and lightning strikes were reported in Mira Loma and other inland areas as the storm drifted south and west.
As storm cells jumped from place to place through the day, radio and television broadcasts were interrupted with emergency warnings for communities threatened by flooding and tornadoes.
Slush, flooding and rock slides closed sections of Interstate 10 in central Los Angeles County and the 60 Freeway east of Riverside.
There were reports of a tornado touching down near Interstate 15 in Corona on Thursday night. Parent said investigating officers found a severe storm and flooded freeway lanes, but no funnel cloud.
In Orange County, eastern canyons saw roughly 1 1/2 inches of rain in a half-hour period, authorities said.
