Storm Pushes Rain Level Above Normal for Season

A steady, soaking rain fell most of Sunday in Ventura County, pushing rainfall totals to above normal levels for the rainy season, sending a muddy runoff flowing to the sea and giving farmers a monthlong reprieve from irrigating crops.

The storm unleashed an inch of rain in coastal areas and up to two inches of rain in higher elevations, and coated the mountains with another blanket of snow. The inclement weather caused a mudslide in Sycamore Canyon near Point Mugu and forced officials to close a section of California 33 above Ojai because of rockslides and blizzard-like conditions.

The wet weather--which also caused some minor flooding and traffic accidents--is expected to make way for partly cloudy skies today and sunshine tomorrow, weather forecasters said. But a smaller storm on its way from the Gulf of Alaska could arrive in the area by Friday.

Southern California has been pelted with a series of rainstorms since the end of December, giving some relief during the six-year drought.

“This is the nicest Christmas and New Year’s presents we can get,” said Paul Leavens, who owns citrus and avocado ranches in the Santa Paula, Ventura and Moorpark areas. “We couldn’t have hoped for a nicer rain,” Leavens said. “We just want more of it.”

Leavens estimates that the above-average rainfall will allow him to stop irrigating his trees for about six weeks.

Terry Schaeffer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Santa Paula, said the weekend’s accumulation of rain brought the season’s total to above normal. Schaeffer and county officials said specific rain figures would not be available until today.

Sunday’s rain also helped water agencies replenish the county’s underground water supplies. The Freeman Diversion Improvement Project, a water storage dam on the Santa Clara River, was operating near capacity, said Frederick J. Gientke, general manager of the United Water Conservation District.

“This means the ground-water levels will get a chance to recover,” Gientke said.

The Freeman diversion dam diverts the river flow into its large holding ponds, where the water soaks into underground water basins. The aquifer had reached record low levels as the county moved into its sixth year of drought.

Gientke said the rain also helps buoy the water table because most farmers will be able to postpone any irrigation until next month.

The Sunday storm dropped an estimated two inches of rain in the Matilija and Sespe areas of the Los Padres National Forest and left about an inch in the costal areas, county engineer Dolores Taylor said.

The steady rain caused some problems.

Two teen-age boys attempting to drive their truck in the Santa Clara River bed had to be rescued by Ventura County search and rescue workers in a helicopter when the truck got stuck in four feet of water. Neither was injured, authorities said.

In Simi Valley, Yosemite Avenue was flooded and a large puddle blocked traffic in the 400 block of Grinnel Court, police said. “Nobody can go outside because there is no way around it,” said Julie Patel, a Grinnel Court resident.

Meanwhile, a station wagon overturned on Victoria Avenue in Ventura after the driver braked too quickly on the slick road, authorities said. About 10:15 a.m., Gina Lopez, 26, of Oxnard was driving south on Victoria Avenue, south of Olivas Park Drive, when she suddenly slammed on the brakes after traffic slowed ahead of her, police said.

“It caused her vehicle to start sliding,” California Highway Patrol Officer Rob Romo said. “She went across the northbound lane, hit the curb on the shoulder and flipped over once, landing on the top.”

Lopez and her two passengers suffered minor injuries, Romo said.

And on Pacific Coast Highway near Sycamore Canyon, authorities reported a small mudslide Sunday morning.

Steve Burback, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., said that although the rain was expected to stop by early today, gusty winds will whip through the county during the day.

He said temperatures will reach into the high 50s or low 60s.

Times correspondent Peggy Y. Lee contributed to this report.

REGIONAL WEATHER: A1