Thunderstorms Rumble Over L.A.; Clearing Expected Today

Thunderstorms blustered through the Los Angeles area Thursday evening in what forecasters said was probably the final onslaught from a three-day storm that is expected to head east this morning, leaving partly cloudy skies and warmer temperatures for the weekend.

By 5 p.m. Thursday, the squalls had added another .47 of an inch to the Civic Center rain gauge, raising the total from the storm to 1.99 inches and the total for the season to 11.49 inches--still almost 3 inches short of normal in what state officials have proclaimed an official drought.

Other Southland rainfall totals in the 24 hours ending at 5 p.m. Thursday included 1.56 inches in San Diego, 1.52 in San Gabriel, .25 of an inch in Newport Beach, .27 in Westwood, .17 in Torrance and .07 in San Bernardino.

Thundershowers fell again throughout Northern and Central California on Thursday, and once again--for the third straight day--funnel clouds were reported, this time near Los Banos, Turlock, Bakersfield and Coalinga, although there were no reports of damage.

Snow continued to fall in the Sierra Nevada, where more than 2 feet have been added to the snowpack this week at some resort locations.

Heavy rain flooded several businesses in Los Banos, and the hail came down so heavily there “that it looked like snow,” according to a local liquor store owner.

But water resources officials said that despite the prolonged statewide storm, it will still take a lot more rain and snow to erase the threat of water shortages if precipitation falls short again next year.

The sporadically heavy showers that moved through Los Angeles and Orange counties during the Thursday afternoon and evening rush hour snarled homeward commuter traffic for the third straight day and caused widespread blackouts.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said a total of about 14,000 customers--10,000 of them in the Mar Vista area--lost their electricity, most of them for 10 minutes or less. The Southern California Edison Co. said 17,500 of its customers in Cerritos, Norwalk and La Habra lost power for up to 45 minutes.

A light plane carrying three members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was struck twice by lightning over the Los Angeles Civic Center about 4:30 p.m. but the pilot, deputy Randy Resnick, managed to land the twin-engine craft at Long Beach Airport without incident.

Resnick said the lightning scorched and rumpled the tail surface of the department’s Cessna 414 and punched two small holes in a fuel tank, but none of those aboard was injured.

The Dodgers-Padres baseball double-header at Dodger Stadium was rained out Thursday night for the third rain-out there in as many days.

Rain forced the cancellation of several proceedings--including the trial of suspected “Trailside Killer” David J. Carpenter--at the San Diego County Courthouse in San Diego Thursday when the roof sprung leaks. Carpenter’s trial--among others--was recessed until today.

The squall line that hit Los Angeles on Thursday night had originally been expected before dawn.

“But the thunderstorms, clouds and crud just sat there off the coast for a while. They didn’t get moving inland until Thursday night,” said meteorologist Dan Bowman of WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.

“That stuff should move out east in the morning,” he said. “There’s another storm coming down on Saturday, but right now it looks like it’ll be too weak and stay too far north to affect the southern part of the state.” Temperatures in downtown Los Angeles remained chilly Thursday, with a high of 62 degrees after an overnight low of 49. And as it had since the storm began, humidity remained high, ranging between 50% and 89%.

Bowman said it will be cool again today, with high temperatures in the metropolitan area in the mid-60s, but he said it should warm a little during the weekend, with highs pushing into the low 70s in some San Gabriel and San Fernando Valley communities despite only partial clearing.

And after that?

“Right now, it looks like another storm way out there, west of the Aleutian Islands, could bring some rain to Southern California next Tuesday or Wednesday,” Bowman said.