Clouds to Clear, Leaving Sunny Weekend Skies

The storm clouds that dropped more than an inch of rain on parts of Ventura County this week are expected to clear today, leaving sunny skies that should last throughout the weekend, forecasters said.

Daytime temperatures are predicted to stay in the 70s, with evening temperatures falling into the 40s and 50s.

The first storm of the season, which moved in early Monday and lingered through Wednesday morning, saturated the mountains north of Ojai with nearly three inches of rain.

Thousand Oaks received 0.67 of an inch of rain during the two-day storm, the government center in Ventura recorded 0.35 of an inch, and Ojai and Fillmore each received more than an inch of rain.

Forecasters said at least one another similar storm system should move through Ventura County this month.

“We are pretty much into the fall system,” said Stuart Seto, a weather specialist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. “We will probably see temperatures getting cooler and the chance of rain increasing. From now on, every three or four days, we will see fronts coming in.”

An Oak View woman was killed when her car skidded off a rain-slicked road north of Ojai and plummeted about 300 feet down a ravine Tuesday afternoon. She was identified Wednesday as Vicki Ann Small, 43.

Small was intoxicated and not wearing a seat belt when she lost control of her car on a curve on California 33, the California Highway Patrol said.

Small, who was married with two children, was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. at Ventura County Medical Center, where she had been taken by helicopter after firefighters reached her about 50 feet down an embankment beside the road.

The storm also caused about a dozen minor accidents, but no road closures or serious flooding, CHP officials said Wednesday.

County Rainfall Here are rainfall figures from the Ventura County Flood Control Department for the 48-hour period ending 6 p.m. Wednesday. Oct. 1 is the beginning of the official rain year.

Rainfall Rainfall Normal rainfall Location last 48 hours since Oct. 1 to date Camarillo 0.35 0.35 0.06 Casitas Dam n/a n/a 0.07 El Rio n/a n/a 0.05 Fillmore 1.14 1.14 0.06 Moorpark 0.39 0.39 0.05 Ojai 1.02 1.02 0.07 Upper Ojai 1.10 1.10 0.07 Oxnard n/a n/a 0.04 Piru 0.91 0.91 0.06 Santa Paula n/a n/a 0.06 Simi Valley 0.16 0.16 0.05 Thousand Oaks 0.67 0.67 0.04 Ventura Govt. Center 0.35 0.35 0.05