Rain

Gary Moskowitz BURBANK -- A low-pressure Pacific storm hit the Burbank and Glendale areas Friday, resulting in an increase in traffic collisions and a lot of folks with wet shoes. The California Highway Patrol reported 134 traffic collisions between 5 and 9 a.m. Friday in the area, up 138% from last week. There were no fatalities or major injuries and no major road closures, and all of the reported accidents were described as minor to moderate, officials said.

Karen S. Kim BURBANK -- Although Burbank residents will feel some relief from sporadic showers for the next couple of days, they'll need to keep their umbrellas and raincoats handy for the weekend. The fringe effects of a storm centered mainly over Ventura and Santa Barbara counties have kept the Burbank area wet and rainy since 4 p.m. Sunday. "It was a very slow-moving storm," said National Weather Service spokesman Bruce Rockwell. "San Luis Obispo County got hit on Saturday night, but it didn't move down to the Oxnard/Ventura area until about noon on Sunday."

Jackson Bell Dedicated students of Stevenson Elementary School and their parents braved cold morning rain and dodged puddles to participate in Walk Kids to School Day and open house. Well, at least some of them did. Those soaked from the expedition Wednesday said they had a great time. Third-grader Mathew Smith said he loved the rainy walk to school with his father. "We talked about what we would do to be careful [when walking] and he's sick, so I asked him if he's feeling better," Mathew said.

Jeff Tully Daren Wolf is becoming quite the amateur meteorologist. In the past few days, Wolf, the Burbank High track and field coach, has been studying weather patterns in an attempt to find out if it is going to rain today for the 30th annual Burbank Invitational. "Every [T.V.] channel I watch and every Web site I visit I get different information about when, or if, it's going to rain," said Wolf, the meet's director. "I'm just hoping the rain holds off until after 4 [p.m.

Jeff Tully For more than an hour, the Foothill League had to wait to see who would be crowned the season's singles and doubles champions. Thursday, in the midst of title matches, the league finals at the Burbank Tennis Center was postponed because of rain. After an hour delay, it was decided that conditions were good enough to let play resume. Saugus High's Teri Lord, who was in charge of running this year's event, said the delay had to be called because of the safety of the players.

Bits and pieces from the local sports scene: Event won't be played for first time in 44 years: Officials and local boys' golf teams taking part in the 44th annual Burbank High Schools' Invitational today were hoping the recent rains that have soaked the area the past few days would not cancel the event. However, when a deluge hit the area Tuesday, it forced the cancellation of the event. The event ? sponsored by the Burbank Men's Golf Club ? was scheduled to kick off with shotgun start at 8 a.m. at De Bell Municipal Golf Course.

BURBANK ? Rain has dampened the spirits of local baseball coaches this season. The seasonal precipitation has caused teams to change their schedules and prompted postponements and cancellations. Friday's rain prompted a disappointing decision for Burbank and Burroughs, as the third game in their season series had to be postponed. The game was scheduled to be played at 6:30 p.m. at Burbank High. The contest has been rescheduled for May 8 at Burbank. "It's disappointing for us and our players because Friday was our senior night," Burroughs Coach Tom Crowther said.

Jeff Tully Like many other spring sports, the local high school boys' tennis teams have been affected by the recent rains. "We practiced a few days before the rains came a few weeks ago, but we haven't been able to practice much since then," Burroughs Coach Roy Bernhardt said. "One of my players was complaining because we weren't able to practice, and he was concerned. But I told him most of the other teams are in the same boat because of the rain."

Jeff Tully With a name like the Burbank Thunder, the youth softball team should have expected a little rain. However, taking part in the National Softball Assn. 2003 World Series in Beaumont, Texas, local the 12-and-under squad wasn't prepared for the amount of rain and humidity experienced in the elite tournament two weeks ago. Despite the hardships, the Thunder put together a fine performance to finish second. "It was quite an experience for us," said Thunder Coach Mike Peraza, whose team plays in the Burbank Park, Recreation and Community Services Department Ponytail League.

Mark R. Madler The best shot made at the DeBell Municipal Golf Course over the weekend was struck by Mother Nature. A lightning strike Saturday left a large tree severed on the course's sixth hole, said Scott Scozzola, the course's head professional. "It looks like the lightning just nailed it," Scozzola said. "Half of it is right on the green." The tree did not interfere with any play because heavy rain closed the course, Scozzola said.

As temperatures dropped into the low 50s and heavy rain and thunder hit Los Angeles County Friday, residents in Burbank, Glendale and La Cañada reacted on Twitter. The National Weather Service predicts heavy rain and snow in elevations above 4,500 to 5,500 feet today. -- Tiffany Kelly, Times Community News Twitter: @LATiffanyKelly

BOYS' SOCCER Burroughs 2, Mayfair 1 : The Indians played well and earned a victory in a CIF Southern Section Division IV first-round match Thursday on the road. The win puts Burroughs into the second round where it will play against Santa Monica at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Burbank High. "The boys played well," said Burroughs Coach Mike Kodama, whose team was runner-up in the Pacific League. "When we went up, 2-1, and they came back with a goal the game became very physical after that.

Some slick play and a tough opponent proved to be too much for the Burroughs High girls' soccer team early on in a 4-0 season-ending loss to host Lakewood on Wednesday afternoon in the wild-card round of the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs.   With the rain pouring down, Lakewood (10-9-1), the fourth-place team out of the Moore League, scored all four of its goals inside the first 15 minutes en route to the win and the Indians (13-10-2), a Pacific League at-large entrant into the playoffs, could never recover.

GLENDALE — The Providence High girls' soccer team overcame less than ideal playing conditions to earn a Liberty League win in its season opener Monday afternoon at the Glendale Sports Complex. The 5-1 victory against Yeshiva officially kicked off the new season for the young Pioneers, who lost nine starters from last season to graduation. The Panthers' program is a work in progress and one that isn't up to standard just yet. It was an opponent the Pioneers didn't expect to falter against, as they used the contest as a chance to finally get their freshmen some playing time after their previous match was canceled.

As my first year in SoCal comes to a close, the check boxes on my Burbank Bucket List are nearly filled. “Summit a Verdugo peak,” “learn kung fu,” and “meet the swordplay guy” are all checked. “Learn to ride a horse,” “sing at Dimples” and “drive the boot-mobile at Victor's Shoe Repair” are still empty. I'll get on them ASAP, but first I had another Burbank mainstay to check out: “The Tonight Show.” Though Gary Owens first announced his broadcast on “Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In” from “beautiful downtown Burbank,” it was Johnny Carson's use of this dubious descriptor that introduced me to the land I'd eventually call home.

BURBANK — The Burroughs High cross-country program has had a fine track record recently of sending runners to the prestigious CIF-State Cross-Country Championship. Prior to his season under Coach John Peebles, former standout Sadee Martinez qualified for the girls' competition in 2006 and 2007 and Western Nelson made the boys' competition in 2008. Anthony Monroy can add his name to that list. Running in wet, rainy conditions Saturday at the CIF Southern Section finals at Mount San Antonio College, Monroy, a junior, ran well enough to earn a spot in next Saturday's State Meet at Woodward Park in Fresno.

Not owning a pet but still possessing a general curiosity of their work, I recently contacted the Burbank Animal Shelter, arranged a meeting and sat down with two enthusiastic officers, Brenda Castaneda and Stacie Levin, who happily put up with my inane questions. Pop quiz! Guess how many registered dogs we have in town? A couple thousand? Nope! Five thousand? No, higher. Ten thousand? Well, almost — actually, it’s 9,300. Yikes, that’s just about one dog for every 11 people, but of course we’re not including cats (second place)

Sidney Soffer idney Soffer scanned the crowd that had gathered Friday at the Burbank Creative Arts Center Gallery. “This is a great turnout, especially for people in L.A., who usually don’t leave their homes when it rains,” he said. But leave their homes and brave the rain they did to attend the opening-night reception of the gallery’s new exhibit “Seven by 7.” The exhibition presents works in a wide range of media that explore the personal viewpoint and response to the natural environment by artists Abira Breskal, Selina Cheng, Joy Merzer Freedman, Mary Guzman, Eileen Hecht, Rachelle Mar k and Barbara Schick of Artist Co-op 7. A diverse group of working and exhibiting artists who encourage individual creative growth through exploration and experimentation, Artist Co-op 7 comprises about 50 artists.

When lightning that accompanied Tuesday’s rain storm struck close to Burbank High, that was a call to action. Not wanting to put athletes in possible harm’s way, officials from the Pacific League decided to postpone girls’ water polo and boys’ and girls’ soccer matches that were scheduled for Tuesday. One of the biggest events affected was the Pacific League water polo preliminaries. Host No. 3 Burbank was to take on No. 2 Pasadena at 4 p.m. and No. 4 Burroughs was to face No. 1 Crescenta Valley at 5. “We had some pretty big lightning strikes,” Burbank High girls’ water polo Coach Carlos Pelayo said.

BURBANK HIGH — It took almost a week for the girls’ soccer match between Burbank and Burroughs high to get rescheduled. The teams were scheduled to play last week, but the rainstorms that pelted the Southland halted the matchup. The schools’ administrations tried to have the contest take place Monday, however, officials couldn’t be secured. The Bulldogs and Indians were finally able to get in their Pacific League match Tuesday. Although they weren’t able to avoid the inclement weather after all, as steady rain fell throughout the match, they were able to get the first cross-town rivalry contest of the season played.