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Unusually low temperatures bring hail over rainy weekend

March 15, 2006
Santa Paula News

The wild weather brought unusually low temperatures after a Saturday morning that Mother Nature promised would bring sunshine...but then she changed her mind and let rain and hail fall.

By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesThe wild weather brought unusually low temperatures after a Saturday morning that Mother Nature promised would bring sunshine...but then she changed her mind and let rain and hail fall.By noon Saturday Santa Paula’s temperature still hovered in the mid-40 degrees as a cold Alaskan Gulf storm front continued to travel through the Southland.Mid-afternoon Sunday the city was still chilly with temperatures staying in the 40s and 50s as snow glistened low on northern mountains after the overnight low dipped into the low 30s.Santa Paula residents awoke Sunday morning to the rare sight of ice covering lawns, just a smidgen of what was experienced throughout the state.Dangerously slippery “black ice” comprised of sleet and oil caused the portions of Highways 14 and 5 to be closed and traffic was diverted onto Highway 126 throughout Saturday night and through Sunday morning.
Although there was a smattering of rain throughout the weekend there were no storm-related local emergencies according to a Santa Paula Fire Department spokesman.In fact, as of Saturday evening it had been almost unusually quiet for Santa Paula firefighters, according to Captain Jerry Byrum.“All we had from Station 81 was one medical call, that was it...same for Station 82,” he noted.Sandbags and sand have been available to Santa Paula residents only at Station 81 located on South 10th Street, but the weekend storm didn’t bring much rainfall or requests for sandbags.“Over the last few days we had a couple of people who came in and picked up sandbags, but no mad rush,” said Cpt. Byrum.Although there was scant rain over the weekend, it is forecast that storms will again move in later in the week and perhaps linger over the weekend.