Storm brings snow and rain; another is on the way

A ‘nice, well-behaved’ system departs while a wetter one is expected to arrive Thursday.

A cold winter storm that brought overnight rain and snow to Southern California cleared out Tuesday, but a wetter storm is on the way.

Parts of Los Angeles County received more than half an inch of rain late Monday, including the Puddingstone Reservoir in San Dimas, which received 0.57 inch, and the San Gabriel Dam in Azusa, which received 0.51 inch.

There were brief, heavy downpours. Between 9:30 and 9:45 p.m. Monday, Compton reported 0.22 inch of rain.

Downtown Los Angeles, meanwhile, received a measly 0.02 inch.

Most of the rain for the Southland was over by Tuesday morning as the cold front moved east, said David Bruno, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

Bruno said Montecito — which is still recovering from devastating mudslides last month that ripped away homes and killed 21 people — received almost no rain.

“They were lucky,” he said. “That’s good news.” The system, he said, was

“nice, well-behaved a storm,” and there were no reports of major flooding, despite the fact that some of the heaviest rain was reported near where the 2016 Fish fire burned in the San Gabriel Mountains.

About 3 p.m. Tuesday, graupel, or soft hail, fell for about 15 minutes in Thousand Oaks, said Kathy Hoxsie, a meteorologist with the weather service. That means the air was cold enough to freeze the rain as it came down. “It can be mushy enough that it looks like snow,” Hoxsie said.

Snow fell at low elevations, as expected, Bruno said. Llano, an unincorporated community at about 3,500 feet in the Antelope Valley, got about an inch of snow, and there were reports of 3 inches along Angeles Forest Highway.

California Department of Transportation crews worked 12-hour shifts overnight Monday to keep Interstate 5 through the Grapevine open amid the snowy conditions, said Michael Comeaux, a Caltrans spokesman.

Tuesday morning, snow forced the closure of the Cajon Pass near Highway 138 and Interstate 15, according to Caltrans. Highway 138 was closed near Highway 2 after a big rig jackknifed on the icy roadway, setting off a chain of collisions involving eight to 10 vehicles, said Terri Kasinga, a Caltrans spokeswoman. Drivers were required to use tire chains in mountain areas.

By 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, Wrightwood had received about 2 inches of snow, the San Bernardino County Department of Public Works said.

The Big Bear area got 4 to 6 inches, and Running Springs got 8.

Another, wetter storm is expected to move in Thursday afternoon, with the heaviest rainfall overnight, Bruno said.

That storm will not be as cold, so snow levels won’t be as low, but many areas could see half an inch to an inch of rain.

hailey.branson @latimes.com Times staff writer Alene Tchekmedyian contributed to this report.