Storm Takes Its Parting Shots : Weather: Skies clear, but not before dropping an inch of rain on most of the area. Forecasters say the downpour is the last for a while.

The latest in a two-week series of winter storms pounded Ventura County on Monday, causing minor flooding and clogging roads with early-morning mud and rockslides.

As skies began to clear Monday after what forecasters said would be the last in the long line of downpours, rain-soaked residents started digging out after a spectacular wet-weather assault marked by lightning and thunder.

The powerful Pacific storm, which dropped more than an inch of rain on most parts of the county by noon Monday, was so intense that the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for Ventura County and several surrounding counties. No twisters were reported in Ventura County.

In addition, the Ventura River topped its banks about 2 a.m. Monday, spilling water into a canal near the Ventura Beach RV Resort. Last year, the RV park was the site of flooding that submerged dozens of trailers in a wall of mud and washed one coach out to sea. Park management reopened the campsite Monday morning after closing it late Friday because of the heavy rains.

The tornado watch, and a flood watch issued several times since last week, were expected to expire late Monday.

Forecasters predict that today will be the first dry period since a one-day break late last week in the chain of storms that have been battering Ventura County. No rain is forecast through the end of the week.

“It looks like it’s finally going to clear up,” said Jerry McDuffie, area manager for the National Weather Service. “It should be a pretty nice day.”

However, those stuck in the early-morning downpour Monday said they have learned not to rely on weather predictions.

Officer A. R. Odell of the California Highway Patrol was directing cars around a large boulder blocking a northbound traffic lane on California 33. The boulder had fallen from a muddy hillside and plopped in the middle of the highway near Creek Road. A Caltrans truck eventually came along and shoved the boulder aside.

But even as patches of blue sky peeked through massive gray clouds hovering over the Ojai Valley, Odell was not ready to declare the storm over.

“Maybe it will clear up later,” he said. “I’ll wait and see.”

Down Creek Road, Dan Grinn watched as the rain-swollen San Antonio Creek chewed away at his back yard. He said fencing for a horse corral and a 15-foot-wide section of the creek’s bank had been washed away since Sunday night.

“It was just a creek, now it’s a river,” said Grinn, who purchased the two-story creekside home, complete with flood insurance, two weeks ago. “Last night the rain here was the heaviest I ever experienced in my life.”

The storm started dumping heavy rain on Ventura County about 10 p.m. Sunday. From then until about noon Monday, more than an inch fell in Ventura, Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley. More than two inches fell in the upper Ojai Valley.

Metrolink’s morning trains between Moorpark and Los Angeles’ Union Station were delayed up to 25 minutes after railroad officials cut speeds for fear of rain-related accidents.

Heavy rain on the upper Ventura River flooded the parking lot of a 14-unit Oak View apartment complex with about two feet of water. Flooding became so bad that authorities evacuated a family from one unit after sandbags failed to keep the water out of their first-floor apartment.

“It was like a river here last night. It has never been this bad,” said resident Tony Jauregui, 32.

In nearby Ojai, employees at an auto parts store swept away water that had seeped through four sandbags placed at the front door. Up the street, workers mopped up floodwater that had found its way into a pizza parlor.

In Santa Paula, building contractor Manuel Mendez also was contending with the wet weather.

“It’s been total havoc,” Mendez said. “We had three jobs going and they’ve all been held up. I have about eight men sitting at home doing nothing.”

The flooded Camarillo Springs Golf Course has been closed for nearly a week, said Tim Peres, food and beverage manager.

“The fairways are completely submerged. It looks like a huge lake,” Peres said.

Predictably, umbrella sales have gone up in the last two weeks at the Savon Drugs store in Simi Valley.

“I ordered ahead of time,” said Jim Keer, assistant general manager at the store where about 14 dozen were sold last week.

But if forecasters are right, those sales should drop off over the next few days as blue skies and sunshine make an extended appearance.

“It’s expected to be mostly sunny for a few days,” said Marty McKewon, a meteorologist with the private forecasting firm WeatherData Inc. “There should be a lot of people out and they should all be in a good mood.”

Times staff writer Peggy Y. Lee contributed to this report.