Winter storm hits Southern California, causing pileups amid ice and snow

A formidable winter storm forecast to wallop the mountains with blizzard conditions and deliver bounties of rain to low-lying areas has started to move into Southern California, causing some pileup crashes overnight and raising concerns of dangerous mudflows.

Light, scattered showers are expected across the region Thursday, but the storm’s intensity will pick up by early Friday morning.

In the Los Angeles County mountains, Crystal Lake and the San Antonio Dam have received 0.32 of an inch of rain since the first storm system moved through Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. The L.A. County coast and metro area have seen only about 0.02 of an inch so far.

But the chance for heavy snowfall in the mountains and even some accumulation at lower elevations “will be one of the big takeaways of this storm,” Wofford said.

The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard warning in the L.A. and Ventura County mountains, only the second such warning on record in the region, following a similar storm in 1989.

Snow levels have dropped to 1,500 feet, dusting the mountains and interior foothills, while higher elevations are bracing for hefty snow Friday through early Saturday.

Light snow was falling in Palmdale on Thursday morning.

In Santa Barbara County, Fire Department spokesperson Mike Eliason tweeted images of snow on the Santa Ynez Mountains, a rare occurrence.

Snowfall totals of 2 to 5 feet are forecast for the mountains above 5,000 feet, and 6 to 18 inches at elevations between 3,500 and 4,500 feet, according to the weather service. Officials are warning about downed trees, power outages and dangerous mountain roads in the days ahead.

Roads were already icy in the Inland Empire early Thursday.

In Yucaipa, a 20-car pileup on the westbound 10 Freeway sent eight people to the hospital overnight, KTLA-TV Channel 5 reported. The crash occurred around 11 p.m. near Wildwood Canyon Road. After a crash Wednesday night along Highway 189 in Crestline, more than a dozen drivers were stranded in the snow, leading to an hours-long road closure as vehicles were towed from the scene, KNBC-TV Channel 4 reported.

Half an inch of rain is forecast to fall in Southern California on Thursday, said Mike Wofford, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Oxnard.

The storm is expected to deliver rainfall totals of 2 to 5 inches in the coasts and valleys and up to 10 inches of rain in the mountains through Saturday evening.

With the heavy rain, officials are warning of the threat of mudflows in wildfire burn scars. In Duarte, the L.A. County Department of Public Works issued a mudflow alert for the area of last summer’s Fish fire, closing a stretch of Mel Canyon Road. Residents who leave the area, affecting about 25 homes, will be required to walk back in upon their return, officials said.

Temperatures with this cold system, which will travel along the coast through Friday night before venturing inland across Southern California late Saturday, will creep to the mid-30s to low 50s at lower elevations and down to the 20s and 30s for high elevations. Wind gusts of 55 to 75 mph are forecast to blast through the mountains and deserts, while gusts of up to 50 mph will sweep through the coasts.

The system’s gusty, bitter punch sets the stage for avalanche threats.

“The incredible amount of snow combined with the strong wind will lead to extreme avalanche conditions along steeper terrain and at lower elevations than we typically experience in Southern California,” the weather service said. “The most significant threat for avalanches is typically within 24 hours of new snowfall.”

California’s storm comes as winter weather also slams the northern states, where residents from Wyoming to Wisconsin are under blizzard warnings.

Times staff writer Ruben Vives contributed to this report.