April Showers Cause Minor Car Accidents : Weather: Rain should end by this afternoon and clouds may linger through Wednesday. But official says moisture is only 68% of normal.

Scattered showers caused inconvenience and minor accidents on the county’s freeways Monday, but precipitation for the season remains far short of the average, a spokesman for Ventura County Flood Control District said.

“Even with Monday’s rain, we’re still at only 68% of normal,” spokesman Jared McFarland said.

Forecasters predicted more light showers throughout the county this morning, ending by early afternoon.

Ventura, Oxnard, Ojai and Camarillo had slightly more than a quarter of an inch of rain by 5 p.m., while lower totals were reported in Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley.

The California Highway Patrol reported numerous small accidents but no serious injuries as cars slipped and slid on rain-soaked roads.

One stretch of the northbound Ventura Freeway in Thousand Oaks proved particularly hazardous, producing three multiple-car pileups. The worst involved five cars and occurred near the Moorpark Road exit, but only minor injuries were reported.

Cloudy skies are expected to linger through Wednesday, according to meteorologist David Gomberg of the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

“We’ve got a potentially weak system behind this one that should come in on Wednesday,” he said.

But rainfall after this morning is unlikely, he said. The weather should be breezy, with winds at 20 to 30 m.p.h. and high temperatures in the 60s. Lows should be in the low 50s, he said.

Sunday’s winds and Monday’s rain improved the county’s air quality, according to Gary Archemont of the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District.

“We’ve got great quality right now,” Archemont said. “This is typical of a very clean April day.”

From Simi Valley to Ventura, ozone ratings have been good since Saturday, thanks primarily to the weather front from Alaska that dumped rain on the region Monday.

“All that wind blowing in from the west really disperses the pollution,” Archemont said, adding that residents can expect the clean air to last at least until Thursday.

County Rainfall

Here are rainfall figures from the Ventura County Flood Control District for the 24-hour period ending 5 p.m. Monday. Oct. 1 is the beginning of the official rain year.

Rainfall Rainfall Normal rainfall Location last 24 hours since Oct. 1 to date Camarillo 0.28 9.72 12.60 Casitas Dam n/a n/a 22.22 El Rio n/a n/a 14.33 Fillmore 0.16 11.21 17.84 Moorpark 0.12 9.81 13.95 Ojai 0.28 12.27 20.26 Upper Ojai n/a n/a 22.27 Oxnard 0.28 9.95 13.85 Piru 0.20 9.55 16.31 Santa Paula 0.16 12.74 16.69 Simi Valley 0.20 9.23 13.65 Thousand Oaks 0.12 8.56 14.62 Ventura Govt. Center 0.28 10.84 15.27