Wettest Storm of Season Leaves Wrecks, Floods

The season’s heaviest rainstorm moved through Ventura County on Sunday, snarling traffic with more than a dozen freeway crashes and dropping several inches of snow in the mountains.

It poured steadily from dawn until dusk and dropped more than an inch of rain on most cities. Ventura and Lake Casitas received 1 1/2 inches, according to the Ventura County Flood Control Department.

“It’s wet no matter where you stand,” said Ojai resident Sean Parkin, huddling with some friends under a storefront canopy in downtown Ventura. Winds reaching 20 mph bent the tall palms in Ventura and whipped raindrops in all directions.

The rain was expected to taper off by late morning, making way for partly cloudy skies today and high temperatures in the 60s, according to the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

By Tuesday, the county should see sunny skies and warmer temperatures, with highs in the upper 60s to low 70s, said Ellie Budai, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts to The Times.

Normally at this time of year, a ridge of high pressure builds in the Pacific Ocean and diverts early spring storms north toward the Pacific Northwest and Canada, Budai said. But that ridge has yet to appear, allowing cold and wet storms to move down the West Coast from Alaska.

“Overall, in terms of storms, it was typical but a bit stronger than the ones we’ve been seeing this season,” federal meteorologist Jonathan Slemmer said.

Slick roadways and excessive speed contributed to numerous vehicle crashes, resulting mostly in cuts and scrapes for drivers, officers said.

“A mess of a day from start to finish,” said California Highway Patrol Officer Manuel Fernandez Jr.

Minor street flooding was reported in Oxnard, Ventura and Santa Paula, and some western Ventura County residents reported flickering lights about 4 p.m.

It was the wettest storm since the rainfall season started Oct. 1. On Jan. 25, nearly 2 inches of rain fell on Ojai and more than an inch was recorded in Santa Paula, but the county’s other cities received less than an inch.

The latest rainfall brings the season average for most cities to about 50% of normal.

Sunday’s storm dumped 1.42 inches in Thousand Oaks and 1.26 inches in Camarillo by early evening. Port Hueneme and Santa Paula each received 1.34 inches.

About 4:30 p.m., county public works employees were headed out to clear roads in Lockwood Valley, where 6 inches of snow had fallen, sheriff’s Sgt. Larry Meyers said. An equal amount of the white stuff fell on mountain communities west of Frazier Park, residents said.

Residents of the county’s northeastern slopes were rushing home Sunday afternoon when it was reported that excessive snow would close Interstate 5 near Frazier Park, Meyers said.

Slemmer said weather watchers reported 3 inches of snow had fallen on California 33 north of Ojai.

The snow level was at 3,000 feet Sunday night and was expected to dip another 500 feet today. Freezing temperatures remained steady Sunday in the mountains. High temperatures in the rest of the county were in the low 50s.

Between 3 and 4 p.m., as the brunt of the storm was moving through, the CHP responded to 10 accidents, mostly fender-benders. Two of those crashes involved overturned vehicles within a mile of each other on the same road.

About 3:15 p.m., an on-duty pizza delivery man rolled his truck on California 126 just east of Victoria Avenue. Thirty minutes later on the 126 just east of the Ventura Freeway interchange, a man lost control of his car, which skidded off the roadway and flipped.

Both drivers suffered minor injuries, officers said.

The County Fire Department responded to half a dozen calls about crashes between 5:45 and 6:15 p.m. on California 118 at or near Rocky Peak Road, a dispatcher said. No major injuries were reported, but traffic backups occurred in both directions.

Other crashes occurred on the Ventura Freeway near La Conchita and on California 150 near the Santa Barbara County line.

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Times Community News reporters Jennifer Hamm and Massie Ritsch contributed to this story.

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County Rainfall

Here are rainfall figures from the Ventura County Flood Control Department for the 24-hour period ending at 8 p.m. Sunday. Oct. 1 is the beginning of the official rain year.

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Rainfall Rainfall Normal rainfall Location last 24 hours since Oct. 1 to date Camarillo 1.26 5.82 12.24 Casitas Dam 1.22 7.51 21.40 Casitas Rec. Center 1.50 8.26 21.48 Fillmore 1.06 6.04 17.33 Matilija Dam 0.63 8.93 24.42 Moorpark 0.83 4.30 13.44 Ojai 0.67 7.64 19.49 Upper Ojai n/a 8.55 21.33 Oxnard 0.91 5.63 13.34 Piru 0.63 6.09 15.71 Port Hueneme 1.34 5.67 12.89 Santa Paula 1.34 7.66 16.23 Simi Valley 0.87 6.20 13.15 Thousand Oaks 1.42 6.04 14.05 Ventura Govt. Center 1.50 7.06 14.80

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