Saturday Rains Saturate Region but Deliver Little Havoc Locally

Another day, another downpour.

But the rain that spurted and sputtered across Ventura County on Saturday was mild compared to the intense showers that forecasters predict for today.

“The next storm will bring in some wind and showers and even thunderstorms,” said Steve Burback, a meteorologist for WeatherData Inc., a meteorology firm that supplies forecasts for The Times. “It’s real unstable. . .. Just about anybody could get pretty good rains.”

The tropical storm that drenched Southern California on Friday was kinder to Ventura County on Saturday, bringing only off-and-on showers and no reports of local flooding while pummeling Los Angeles and Orange counties.

The biggest mishap was a mudslide Friday night that prompted Caltrans to close an 11-mile stretch of California 150 between Ojai and the Santa Barbara County line. The mountainous highway, which winds around the northern side of the Lake Casitas reservoir, will be closed for a week, a Caltrans spokeswoman said Saturday.

“Ventura County dodged a bullet,” said Terry Schaeffer, a Santa Paula-based meteorologist for the National Weather Service. While areas to the south were deluged by the remnants of the tropical storm, he said, “we just got nicked by it.”

Schaeffer and Burback agreed that a new, colder storm over the Pacific will almost certainly hit Ventura County today. “More heavy rain is a foregone conclusion,” Schaeffer said. “It’s just basically a matter of time.”

Burback said coastal areas could receive one to three inches of rain from the new storm, while the mountains can expect between four and six inches. Both high and low temperatures will be in the 50s, Schaeffer said.

Thunderstorms could cause especially heavy rains for brief periods, raising the possibility of flooding, Burback said. “But not all over, just in local areas.” A National Weather Service flood watch, canceled early Saturday when the rainfall abated, was reissued at midday and will continue through today, officials said.

“It doesn’t look too scary just yet,” Ventura County flood-control manager Hassan Kasraie said late Saturday afternoon, after weather stations in the county reported up to two inches of rain in the previous 24 hours.

But with the ground already saturated by a more than weeklong series of storms, “we’re getting closer and closer to the end of the line,” Kasraie said. “If we get enough rain, you can expect flooding.”

Fear of a flood prompted the owner of the the Ventura Beach RV Resort to close the Ventura campground until Monday. Last February, the river overflowed into the park, submerged dozens of recreational vehicles and swept one into the ocean.

“The forecast was so bad and we couldn’t pin down when it was coming in,” park owner Nancy Hubbard said Saturday, adding that fewer than 10 RVs were using the facility when it closed late Friday. They were referred to campgrounds in Oxnard and Santa Barbara.

Lulls in the rain prompted dozens of joggers, bicyclists and dog-walkers to visit Ventura’s Main Street Bridge to see how much the Ventura River had risen. Most were disappointed.

“I expected more water,” said Leo Medina of Ventura, patriarch of a 13-member contingent of children, grandchildren and in-laws who stopped to view the muddy torrent. “This is mild compared to last year.”

The observation point next to the Casitas Dam also drew a stream of visitors. “It’s starting to fill up quite a bit,” said Bob Steiger, who lives a few miles south of the dam. Last week, officials announced that Lake Casitas is more than 80% full and Steiger said he expected fishing to improve.

“I think this will help the catfish,” he said, as he scanned the mist-shrouded lake. “It’s hard to say about trout.”

Joe Bischof of Oak View said he and his wife, Anna, visited the bridge with their dog, Curly. It was more than a sight-seeing trip, Bischof said.

“Everybody is getting out because they’re stir-crazy,” he said.

County Rainfall

Here are rainfall figures from 5 p.m. Friday to 5 p.m. Saturday from the Ventura County Flood Control District. Oct. 1 is the beginning of the official rain year.

Rainfall Rainfall Normal rainfall Location since Friday since Oct. 1 to date Camarillo 1.18 10.53 5.86 Casitas Dam 2.01 17.72 9.87 El Rio .75 11.21 6.26 Fillmore 1.89 NA 8.19 Moorpark 1.30 11.54 6.23 Ojai .98 NA 8.73 Upper Ojai .79 19.02 9.32 Oxnard 1.46 9.66 6.01 Piru 1.18 14.99 7.15 Santa Paula 1.54 13.57 7.48 Simi Valley .98 NA 5.94 Thousand Oaks .75 12.44 6.37 Ventura Govt. Center 1.06 11.59 6.66

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