Countywide : More Rainfall Expected Tonight

Clouds and gusty winds were all that remained in Ventura County on Wednesday of the latest drought-busting storm, but forecasters said showers from a new storm could arrive as early as tonight.

Light showers from a cool Pacific storm could fall on coastal areas by this evening, with more widespread rain expected Friday, said Dean Jones, a meteorologist with Weather Data Inc., a private forecasting service.

Like the previous system, tonight’s storm should be cooler than the storms of January and early February, which were fed by tropical moisture and produced drenching rains, Jones said.

“This storm looks very similar to the one that just came through,” said Jones, adding that the snow level should start at 5,000 feet and drop to 4,000 feet by Friday.

Rainfall amounts should be comparable with those measured in the last storm, when amounts ranged from nearly an inch in the coastal plain to more than three inches in some mountain areas, he said.

Temperatures are expected to remain on the cool side, with highs ranging from the high 50s to mid-60s and overnight lows dipping into the 40s across the county, Jones said.

The string of storms that has caused Lake Casitas and other county reservoirs to overflow is not yet over, Jones said. After a sunny weekend, another system is expected to arrive by late Monday, he said.

County Rainfall

Here are rainfall figures from 8 a.m. Monday to 8 a.m. Wednesday from the Ventura County Flood Control District. Oct. 1 is the beginning of the official rain year. Because of a computer problem, the Ventura County Flood Control District issued erroneous season rainfall totals last week, which were reprinted by The Times on Feb. 19 and 20.

Rainfall Rainfall Normal rainfall Location since Monday since Oct. 1 to date Camarillo 0.97 19.29 9.25 Casitas Dam 1.98 32.77 16.42 El Rio 1.00 21.56 10.49 Fillmore 1.53 28.53 13.28 Moorpark 0.97 22.29 10.08 Ojai 1.61 34.21 14.84 Upper Ojai 3.05 39.48 16.09 Oxnard 1.26 19.24 10.12 Piru 1.09 27.81 11.83 Santa Paula 1.05 27.14 12.44 Simi Valley 1.10 24.32 9.75 Thousand Oaks 1.22 25.41 10.55 Ventura Govt. Center 0.83 22.26 11.19