By BETH QUINN

El Nino strikes again! The victim this time is the national salad bowl in California, where leaf lettuce prices are up 450 percent and experts warn pricier tomatoes could be next.

"All the rain two or three months ago kept the farmers from being able to plant, and what they did plant got washed out, so it's created gaps (in supply)," said Jeff Jenkins, produce manager for United Grocers in Medford. "All the big chains and wholesalers are competing for the same box of lettuce."

Normally a 24-head case of leaf lettuce -- butter, romaine, green or red -- sells for $10 to $12, but last week the price hit $55. For local shoppers, romaine could be had Monday for $1.49 at Food 4 Less, $2.49 at Safeway and Cantwell's Market in Medford and $3.69 at Ray's Sentry Market in Central Point.

The wide range of prices attests to a volatile market where pickings are slim in the San Joaquin Valley, and the new crop from the Salinas area of Monterey County won't be available for a few more weeks.

"The price is dropping as we speak," Jenkins said. "I'm hearing for the next two or three weeks you could see it go back up and maybe even higher."

Usually leaf lettuce sells for 89 cents a head at this time of year and just such salad days should return when the harvest moves toward Monterey.

"Once you get into Salinas, it's nothing to see two heads for a dollar," he said. "That's the nicest lettuce you'll find."

But consumers should brace for a run-up in tomato prices, where a $10 hike in the cost of each box will translate into a retail price of $1.99 to $2.49 per pound. The usual price for tomatoes at this time of year is 79 to 99 cents a pound.

The cause of high-priced vegetables is El Nino, the weather-altering phenomenon fueled by warmer-than-normal water temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean. California agriculture officials say the winter's drenching storms cost the state's agricultural industry $91 million, including $4 million in lost lettuce. Experts say El Nino has begun to dissipate.

In the meantime, salad lovers are making do, especially since the lettuce that is available is often good quality.

"If you want tacos or you want hamburgers, you'll buy," said Keith Brown, produce manager at Ray's Sentry.

But high prices have put some buyers off greens.

At discount grocer Food 4 Less, produce manager Ray Nouguier said sales fell from an average 40 cases of lettuce a day to 25 cases, dropping from 960 heads of lettuce sold each day to 600 heads sold.

To keep from scaring price-conscious customers away, he didn't try to recoup the actual cost of lettuce sold last week.

"The highest I got was $2 and I was losing 10 cents a bunch," he said.

Across town at upscale Cantwell's Market, customers also pay attention to fluctuating prices.

"They see it on the rack and they either buy or don't buy it, depending on the price," said manager John Young. "It's a rare occasion that somebody won't know what the price is."

The high price for lettuce is good news for organic growers, whose premium-priced produce is now affordably tempting to both wholesale and retail customers.

"The conventional lettuce company was buying from the organic lettuce company because it was cheaper," said Norman Cook, produce manager for Cantwell's in Medford.

Similarly tempting these days are the suddenly inexpensive packages of salad mix that some consumers are trying for the first time.

Many of those first-timers could be hooked by convenience of salads in a bag.