Storm

The tri-city region could see storm cells capable of producing “brief heavy downpours,” hail and “dangerous cloud-to-ground lightning” Thursday evening as a weather system moves across the Southland, according to the National Weather Service. Although there's a 50% chance of rain today, the brunt of the storm isn't expected to hit until tonight, with up to 3 inches of snow possible at elevations above 7,000 feet, the weather service said. Daytime temperatures in the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena area are expected to remain the high-60s to low-70s, but are due to climb on Friday and through the weekend after the storm moves out. By Saturday, expect mostly clear skies with high temperatures in the mid-80s, according to the National Weather Service.

Possibly damaging winds were expected to whip Southern California early Thursday with gusts of up to 35 mph as the sun returns to Los Angeles. The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for the morning and early afternoon. High temperatures are expected to be in the 60s and 70s. Temperatures Thursday night in Los Angeles are expected to fall to the 40s and 50s. Continue reading > > -- Rong-Gong Lin II, Los Angeles Times

As the bear that some are dubbing "Meatball" succumbs to his tranquilizer darts behind an apartment complex in the 2400 block of Montrose Avenue, residents in this quiet neighborhood are still wrapping their heads around the spectacle. Faye Guymon, who has lived on nearby Briggs Avenue next to Holy Redeemer Catholic Church since 1968, said she has never seen more than a coyote on her street "I never saw such a thing," she said. "I thought maybe it was an accident. I jumped up and my girlfriend called me. She says, 'Stay in the house.'" Tom Gossard, who also lives on Briggs Avenue and teaches at R.D. White Elementary School, had just returned from getting coffee at 6 a.m. when he spotted the huge black bear.

Did you survive the storm last week? I'm not talking about a meteorological event, but a saccharine-sweet cultural tempest that just swept through not only our community, but the nation. I'm talking about Girl Scout cookie time. Though the eye of the storm has passed, you can still find them in front of Pavilions and Virgil's Hardware, Ralph's and CVS. After that frenzied first week cookies are released, things have settled down to a Tagalong-induced self-loathing lull. Thankfully, we only have a few spare boxes of Thin Mints left in our house.

Claudia Peschiutta GLENDALE -- The strong storm that passed out of the area Tuesday brought the city closer to its annual average rainfall mark, while causing little damage. "We really fared well during this storm," said Ritch Wells, a city spokesman. The storm did little more than break a few tree limbs and cause a 33-minute power outage that affected about 1,500 residents near the Glendale (2) Freeway shortly after midnight Tuesday, he said.

MONTROSE — Members of the Korean community, who like all foothill residents face some likely large and damaging debris flows over the next five years, heard from authorities and geographic experts Saturday. The flood-preparedness meeting came a week after rain over La Crescenta let loose a deep layer of gravel and mud down Canyonside Road, leaving dirt, rocks and roots covering homes and property, but causing no injuries. The rainstorm trapped about 100 vehicles on Angeles Crest Highway for hours and forced mandatory evacuations for nearly 50 homes in La Crescenta, La Cañada Flintridge and Big Tujunga Canyon, authorities said.

LA CRESCENTA — Brothers Mark and Mike Bitetti, and Mark’s second-grade daughter, Natalie, strolled along Markridge Road in Crescenta Valley with their dog, Fender. The road was dry, the sun was out, and their home and corner of the neighborhood were spared from storm damage. Mark Bitetti didn’t evacuate. Neither did other nearby residents, and no one he knew had any problems, he said. “I think they did a really great job clearing out the debris basins,” he said.

Robert Chacon LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE -- Tuesday's storm triggered minor debris slides and flooding that washed out small portions of a road along Chevy Chase Drive and Hampstead Road on the Flintridge side of the city, Public Works director Steve Castellanos said. His department received about a dozen calls from residents, notifying the city of damage, he added. "Overall, we handled it pretty well last night," Castellanos said. "Some of our storm drains were overloaded or became clogged with debris."

LA CRESCENTA — A brief storm last week that caused several mudflows and filled county debris basins within minutes could lead to unprecedented mudslide damage this winter, fire officials said Thursday. The Nov. 12 storm that dropped just a couple of inches of rain in a short period of time caused several mudflows into streets and backyards, with rain runoff damaging several homes. Five basins capable of holding tens of thousands of cubic yards of material were filled in minutes, officials said.