Rain Dampens Motorists’ Spirits : Storm: Downtown precipitation sets record for the date, but forecasters expect skies to clear in time for trick-or-treaters on Halloween.

A wintry storm from the Gulf of Alaska dropped a record 0.48 of an inch of rain on downtown Los Angeles and three times that much on some Southland foothill communities Friday, snarling traffic for motorists hoping to get off to a quick start for the Halloween weekend.

For trick-or-treaters, however, the news is good: skies should be mostly clear by the time they start making their rounds tonight.

The first sprinkles from the storm began falling over Southern California late Thursday night, making freeways and streets slippery and triggering a rash of traffic accidents that continued throughout Friday.

A motorist was killed in a multiple-car collision on the Golden State Freeway near Van Nuys Boulevard during a rain shower in Pacoima on Friday morning. Firefighters were called a few minutes later to rescue a child trapped in a car that skidded on wet pavement and collided with two autos on Sepulveda Boulevard near Bel-Air.

A man stranded atop his car after it tumbled into rain-swollen Compton Creek near Carson was rescued by Los Angeles County firefighters.

The wet weather shorted out some major electrical circuits during the morning, knocking out power to 800 customers in Highland Park and another 800 in Koreatown. Both outages lasted about four hours.

The 0.48 of an inch of rain that fell at the Los Angeles Civic Center by 3 p.m. easily topped the old record for the date of 0.29 of an inch set in 1929. The storm total of half an inch raised the total for the season--which began July 1--to 0.78 of an inch, well above the average of 0.57.

Heavier rain fell along the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains and in the foothills below them Friday, with with 2.61 inches reported at Lake Arrowhead, 1.49 in Glendora, 1.48 in Monrovia, 1.45 in Pasadena and 0.96 in Glendale.

The precipitation came from a north Pacific storm that struck hard at Northern and Central California, dropping more than 4 inches of rain in Marin and Napa counties.

Funnel clouds were sighted Friday afternoon over the San Joaquin Valley and thunderstorms raked the Sierra foothills, prompting flood warnings in several areas. Heavy snow fell throughout the High Sierra, delaying traffic on dozens of mountain highways.

Officials said that despite the statewide precipitation, it was too early to predict an end to California’s six-year drought.

“These first rains are soaked up by the hillsides,� said Teddy Morse, spokeswoman for the Santa Clara Valley Water District. “Until they get saturated, we won’t have runoff, and it’s runoff that fills the reservoirs. That takes

back-to-back storms.�

Steve Burback, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., said sunny, dry weather is expected over most of Southern California until at least the end of next week.

The weekend weather is expected to be nearly perfect, with comfortable temperatures, sparkling skies and brisk afternoon breezes.

Friday’s high temperature at the Los Angeles Civic Center was a relatively cool 67 degrees--about 9 degrees below normal--but Burback said downtown highs should be in the mid-70s today and closer to 80 on Sunday.

Another storm building over the Aleutian Islands could bring more rain to the Los Angeles Basin by Thursday or Friday, he said.