Winter Storm Brings Heavy Rains To Southland; Big-Rig Crash Shuts Down Stretch Of Gold Line
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The California Highway Patrol handled 150 collisions during the six hours between 10 p.m. Saturday and 4 a.m. Sunday as the first of two storms left behind rain-slickened streets throughout Los Angeles County, authorities said.
That's compared with 65 collisions during the same timeframe last weekend, CHP officials said.
In Pasadena, the driver of a big-rig on the WB 210 Freeway lost control and crashed into a median at around 3 a.m.
The big-rig was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, a videographer at the scene said. Debris from the crash landed on nearby Gold Line tracks, which were closed hours later while workers check for structural damage.
The Gold Line was shut down Sunday morning between the Allen and Arcadia stations, officials said.
Shuttles were being used to get Metro riders around the closure, spokesman Dave Sotero said. A SigAlert was also in place for the nearby 210 freeway.
The crash and closure come just one day and less than a mile away from where a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for the new Metro Gold Line expansion at the Duarte/City of Hope station.
Saturday's showers were light and intermittent for most of the afternoon as the first of back-to-back storms moved into the region.
Sunday's rainfall is expected to be heavier, bringing as much as an inch of rain in some foothill and mountain areas, and will continue through Monday, the National Weather Service said.
Thunderstorms are possible in some areas, and wintry conditions are expected in the local mountains, according to the NWS forecast.
More rain could arrive later in the week, forecasters said.
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