Heavy rain leads to serious accident

Showers expected to continue through Christmas; drivers warned to use caution.

By Ben Godar
News-Press

December 21 2002

GLENDALE -- Heavy rains and slippery roads contributed to at least one serious crash in the area, and rains are expected to continue through Christmas.

Wet roads Friday morning caused an Oldsmobile to spin out on the Foothill (210) Freeway near the Pennsylvania Avenue exit in La Crescenta. The car came to rest safely on the right shoulder, but facing the wrong direction, CHP Officer Vince Bell said.

A 37-year-old Torrance man driving a FedEx truck was startled by the car, lost control and jackknifed into the center divider. Debris from the collision blocked parts of the roadway for three hours, but no one was seriously injured.

Bell said the driver might have been going too fast for conditions, and encouraged all holiday travelers to slow down and leave themselves plenty of space.

"Something as simple as that will allow them the time to react to something that could potentially ruin their holidays," Bell said.

The Montrose Search and Rescue Team was called out to a car that had slid down an embankment on the Angeles Forrest Highway. While team members didn't respond to any calls in the Glendale area, spokesman Mike Leum expects that to change.

"I anticipate that was the first of many calls this weekend," he said.

Glendale Police and the Crescenta Valley Sheriff's Station responded to only minor weather-related incidents.

Between 10 p.m. Thursday and 5 a.m. Friday, Glendale received 1.2 inches of rain, according to amateur climatologist Bob Gregg.

That puts the city at almost 2 inches above average for the season thus far. This month has also been the wettest December since 1997, Gregg said.

Thursday's storm was the third in a series of systems blowing ashore. While forecasters expect periods of rain through Christmas, they don't believe the showers will be as intense.

Meteorologist Dessa Garton of the National Weather Service said spotty showers are expected to continue through Sunday morning, with a more substantial front moving in Tuesday.