Fast and Furious Fall Downpour

The first storm of the rainy season drenched Ventura County early Monday morning, dropping nearly an inch of rain before giving way to clear skies as dawn broke, according to the National Weather Service.

Winter storms frequently arrive from the north, just south of Alaska, and carry more of a chill than do summer storms, which are formed from subtropical moisture in the south.

This storm system, which originated in the northwestern Pacific, delivered more rain than anticipated, said Jonathan Slemmer, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

“Oddly enough, last year right about now we had the first significant winter storm of the season,” he said. “So we are just in time.”

The storm came on the heels of Santa Ana wind conditions two weeks ago that lulled county residents with summer-like breezes. But such changes are not unusual as autumn makes room for winter, Slemmer said.

Although many slumbered through the rain pounding against their homes, others, such as Elvira and Moses Perez of East Poplar Street in Oxnard, were jolted awake by water dripping from their ceiling, according to Battalion Chief Clarence Slayton with the Oxnard Fire Department.

“They had their roof removed for [replacement] and weren’t aware that rain was predicted,” Perez said. “It flooded their house; the ceiling absorbed so much water it couldn’t hold any more and it started to cave in.

“If they had thought there were even a chance of rain they should have put plastic over it,” he said. Damage to the home was estimated at $100,000.

Although there were no major accidents on the county’s roadways, an unusual number of fender benders occurred after midnight, according to the California Highway Patrol.

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“Seven collisions at that time is definitely more than we would typically respond to, especially on a Sunday night,” said CHP Sgt. Bruce Clark. “When we’ve had this number of collisions it’s usually before midnight, so I would think the rain was a contributing factor.”

During Monday morning’s downpour, temperatures were moderate, with lows ranging between 55 and 60 degrees.

“Clouds and precipitation tend to keep the temperatures up at night, because the heat from the day doesn’t radiate out to space,” Slemmer said.

The storm followed a horseshoe shape, originating in the Gulf of Alaska and running down the coast through Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, before turning back toward the northeast.

“The cold front is now over Arizona, although it’s weakened quite a bit,” Slemmer said. Nordhoff Peak near Ojai, with 1.18 inches, was among the wettest spots in the county. Ventura collected 0.95 of an inch, while Santa Paula had 0.87. Oxnard received 0.82, while Simi Valley recorded half an inch, according to the National Weather Service.

Temperatures should return to normal later this week, with no additional rain on the horizon.

“Slowly but surely it will get warm by the weekend,” Slemmer said. “We would expect high temperatures of upper-60s to mid-70s at beaches and upper-70s to mid-80s in the valleys. It was a pretty good downpour for an hour or two, but now it’s gone.”

Although the extra ground moisture should help prevent brush fires, Slayton said the rainy season can actually lead to an increased chance of house fires.

“In a roundabout way rain can cause fires, because people turn on heaters that they may not have checked for a year or more,” he said. “People stay in, they cook more and use their ovens. Any time cold weather comes, we get concerned--the holiday season is our worst fire season.”

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Although the rain has passed, beach-goers are being advised to stay away from ocean water until Thursday morning because of possible bacteria transported through the county’s storm drains.

“We haven’t had significant rain for months, and there could be human fecal material, decaying [dead animals] or garbage that could be a potential human health hazard,” said Richard Hauge, coordinator with the county Environmental Health Division. “The rain comes down through gutters, streams and creeks carrying bacteria, and that is a risk.”

The county issues such 72-hour warnings whenever rainfall exceeds two-tenths of an inch of rain.