SoCal hit by drenching rains, cool weather

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A spring storm hit Southern California on Sunday with gusty winds, thunderstorms and pea-size hail stones, prompting everything from the cancellation of a baseball game to the sight of celebrities at a red-carpet ceremony scrambling for cover.

The afternoon storm interrupted the red carpet event of the MTV Movie & TV Awards outside Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium, where celebrities ran for cover from the downpour that lasted about 10 minutes.

Temperatures topped a summer-like 80 degrees in downtown Los Angeles last week. But on Sunday they dropped about 10 degrees within four hours, National Weather Service meteorologist Carol Smith said.

“Downtown Los Angeles hit a high of 65 degrees by noon, but that dropped to 53 degrees by 4 p.m.,” Smith said.

In San Diego, a game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres was postponed, in the first rainout at San Diego’s Petco Park since 2015.

It rained overnight in San Diego, and the forecast was for prolonged showers and possible thunderstorms.

Southern Californians turned to social media to document the crazy weather, sharing videos of hail pelting cars and covering highways.

A low-pressure system brought lower temperatures and spotty showers to Southern California that will linger through early next week. Several inches of snow could accumulate at higher elevations in the mountains, Smith said.

The forecast also called for strong winds and rough seas. The National Weather Service issued flooding and high surf warnings for Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

After five years of drought, California has seen record-breaking precipitation this year.