Hail covers H.B. sand; voluntary evacuations in Newport

Hail fell along some Orange County beaches Monday, and warnings about lightning strikes prompted voluntary evacuations near the water in Newport Beach.

Small hail fell an inch deep in Huntington Beach, according to the National Weather Service. Photos posted on Twitter showed it covering sand and an ocean boardwalk.

Newport Beach lifeguards said they also had some pea-sized hailstones land as they warned some people to leave the area.

Newport officials planned to lift the voluntary evacuation shortly after 11:30 a.m., when a strong band of rain and hail left the area, lifeguard Battalion Chief Mike Halphide said.

There were no problems or injuries to report, said Halphide, adding that people were quick to take shelter.

“It didn’t take a lot of common sense to get out of it,” he said.

Hail also fell in Los Angeles County, covering streets and cars on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

The winter scene looks more like a postcard from the East Coast.

Hail could continue to fall throughout the day, said meteorologist Kathy Hoxsie with the weather agency in Oxnard.

As of Monday morning, Santa Monica got 2.67 inches of rain, the most rainfall in Los Angeles County, according to the weather service. Downtown Los Angeles got nearly an inch of rain.

As much as 8 inches of snow could fall onto the higher elevations of Big Bear and Lake Arrowhead and as much as 3 inches of powder could land as low as 4,000 feet, the National Weather Service reported.

Visibility could be limited and drivers are asked to bring tire chains and extra supplies in case of an emergency.

The storm is expected to continue bringing rain overnight before moving out of the area Tuesday as temperatures climb.

Overnight, there was flooding on the 110 and 105 freeways amid heavy downpours, and parts of Ventura County saw up to half an inch of rain per hour.

The storm’s effects were pretty isolated, the weather service said. Santa Monica saw about 2.61 inches of rain over the weekend, but Los Angeles International Airport, only seven miles away, saw a quarter of an inch of rain.

Near the base of the Mount Baldy ski lift, slushy snow brought out throngs of visitors Sunday afternoon.

“It’s not about how much snow there is. It’s the adventure of it. We’re trying to build memories for them,” said Ray Gonzalez, a Long Beach police sergeant who brought his 6-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter to the slopes for an afternoon snowball fight and sledding.

But the rain will not put much of a dent in the state’s lingering drought.

“If we don’t have a March miracle, this will be the fourth really disappointing year in a row,” said Bill Patzert, a climatologist for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge.

Meanwhile, a stretch of Pacific Coast Highway in Ventura County was shut down in both directions early Sunday after a mudslide, authorities said.

The slide occurred about 4:30 a.m., prompting the road’s closure between Calleguas Creek and Mugu Rock. It was reopened Sunday evening.

A nine-mile stretch of the highway -- between Las Posas and Yerba Buena roads -- just reopened Friday after being closed in late November because of mud- and rock-slides. The months-long road closure was necessary to stabilize the road and make sure drivers were safe, California Highway Patrol officials said.