Forecasters Predict Drying-Out Period

Ventura County should dry out this coming week after a storm fed by tropical moisture dumped up to 5 inches of rain in higher elevations, weather forecasters said Wednesday.

Unsettled conditions may lead to some high cloudiness today with a slight chance of sprinkles, but no substantial rain is expected until next week, said Terry Schaeffer, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Santa Paula.

The arctic low pressure system that continued to batter Northern California Wednesday may be reinvigorated enough today to send some clouds over the area, Schaeffer said. But Dean Jones, a meteorologist with Weather Data Inc., said a strong subtropical jet stream that fed moisture into the area is expected to migrate south for the next few days, decreasing the chance for rain.

Temperatures are expected to be seasonal for the remainder of the week, with high temperatures in the mid-60s and lows ranging from 35 to 45 degrees.

In one weather-related incident, two Ventura County couples on an outing to see the snow in the Los Padres National Forest were lost in the mountains overnight Tuesday after one of their vehicles slid off a snow-covered road, authorities said.

The rain and snow caught the four Ojai-area residents by surprise when deep snow in the Frazier Park area Tuesday made travel difficult even in their two four-wheel drive vehicles.

The parents of Gina Kennedy, 21, of Ojai reported her missing when she had not returned from the outing by 1 a.m. Wednesday, said Ventura Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Pitts. County sheriff’s rescue personnel, including two helicopters, searched Wednesday for the two couples, but called off the search in midafternoon after Kennedy called her family from Kern County.

After one of the group’s two vehicles skidded off a back road, the group drove through the night in the remaining vehicle before making their way to lower elevations, a relative said.

Ventura County Rainfall

As of 2:30 p.m. Wednesday

Normal Rainfall total Storm year this time Location total to date of year Ojai 0.46 7.79 6.09 Ventura 0.59 6.11 4.63 Oxnard 0.43 4.96 4.17 Camarillo 0.43 5.02 4.25 Thousand Oaks 0.83 4.97 4.44 Simi Valley 0.83 5.47 4.17 Moorpark 0.67 4.37 4.40 Santa Paula 0.63 6.57 5.43 Fillmore 0.87 7.46 6.05