Powerful winter storm pounds Southern California; ‘significant travel delays’ likely

A major winter storm moved into Southern California overnight Saturday, bringing flood warnings and powerful winds in some areas.

Rain totals topped 7 inches in some Ventura County mountain areas and more than an inch in Beverly Hills and parts of Hollywood Hills. Totals were less than 0.5 inch in other areas of the Los Angeles Basin. Wind gusts topped 50 mph in Ventura County and parts of the Central Coast.

“Significant travel delays possible with accumulating snow on several mountain roads. This could include the Tejon Pass and Grapevine area of Interstate 5,” the National Weather Service said in a statement.

Rain began late Saturday, with 1 to 3 inches overnight across the coast and valleys and as much as 6 inches near the foothills. Unlike the storm earlier this week that blasted through Northern California but petered out before hitting Los Angeles, this storm is expected to be much steadier.

There was intense rain overnight. “And after this first round of rain … some shower activity is possible through Sunday, and then possibly into Monday as well,” Kristen Stewart, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard, said Saturday.

A winter storm warning is in effect through Monday afternoon for the interior mountain areas of Ventura, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties, where 8 to 16 inches of snow is expected to accumulate above 7,000 feet.

Motorists should brace for icy roads and expect travel delays along the Tejon Pass and Grapevine area of Interstate 5.