First of 2 Storms Knocks Out Downtown Power

Freeways flooded, power flickered, and more than 300 vehicles crashed as steady rain greeted Southland residents getting up today.

About 100 customers were without power in in downtown Santa Monica, 741 in Beverly Hills, and an unknown number in western Malibu, where wires were down near Zuma Beach, said Southern California Edison spokesman Scott Andresen.

The early-morning storm was the first of two weather systems that will bookend Southern California this weekend, and the second one will be stronger, colder and longer-lasting than the first, National Weather Service forecasters said.

Clearing skies were expected Saturday, as clouds are blown out by winds that could top 30 mph in Santa Monica.

Sustained winds of 25 mph were likely, and the overnight forecast was for clearing skies and cold air: a 44-degree low was predicted.

Forecasters have ratcheted-up their rain and snow predictions for Sunday night and Monday, when another storm moves in from the northwest. The next one will bring more than an inch of rain to most of the area, and snow is expected as well. There's an 80 percent chance of rain in Santa Monica on Monday.

The California Highway Patrol investigated 315 crashes on Southland freeways and surface streets by 9 a.m. Saturday, up from the 55 wrecks reported on dry roads during the same period last weekend.

The National Weather Service reported .70 inches of rain fell at the Los Angeles Civic Center, and .64 inches at LAX. But more than that landed in the South Bay, San Gabriel Mountains, and Malibu area. A county fire station in Trancas Canyon measured 1.34 inches of rain, and 1.22 inches fell at a weather station near Newhall. The Seoulveda Pass got .67 inches, and Hollywood saw a .63 inch rainfall.

In Los Angeles, about 6,500 Department of Water and Power accounts were in the dark before dawn, the result of various storm-related mishaps. A crash at Nordhoff Street and Sepulveda Boulevard caused a transformer fire that blacked out much of the North Hills, said DWP spokeswoman MaryAnne Pierson.

Several freeways were blocked by surface flooding, crashed cars and trucks, or combinations of problems.

The multilevel interchange of the 210, 134 and 710 freeways in Pasadena was snarled in several directions by flooding or wrecks. Westbound 210 lanes were blocked for four hours by a truck that jackknifed before dawn. And the tunnel that brings the eastbound 210 through the interchange was expected to be closed until 1 p.m. by wreckage from a multicar pileup.

At least three separate crashes occurred over two hours at the 101-405 interchange in the San Fernando Valley. And the southbound 5 truck lanes in the Newhall Pass were closed all morning by a spilled truckload of oranges that had to be scooped up with heavy machinery.