County Weathers New Bout of Stormy Weather

With spring less than a month away, winter continued to hold the region in its grasp, with a new storm rolling through Ventura County on Sunday morning, bringing cold temperatures and dropping about half an inch of rain in some areas.

While the system produced plenty of precipitation between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m.--with the heaviest rainfall occurring about 9 a.m.--it did spare the region the mudslides and flooding that officials had been bracing for.

Another system, also originating out of the Gulf of Alaska, is expected Tuesday. But forecasters said it will bring only light to moderate showers.

Meteorologists, who had been predicting a dry spell for the remainder of the week just a few days before, revised their forecasts on Sunday.

“The cold air out of Alaska is so strong, and then it meets with the warmer air mass over the Pacific, which makes things very volatile and unpredictable,” said Bill Hoffer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Oxnard.

Overnight temperatures are expected to drop again to the low 40s and daytime highs will not get much above 60 degrees, Hoffer said.

The colder temperatures will also bring the snow level down to 5,000 feet.

Slick roadways Sunday contributed to a number of small accidents and fender-benders, but no serious injuries were reported.

Incidents of vehicles hydroplaning on large pools of water increase with heavy rains, but Sunday’s storm produced only a couple hours of heavy rainfall in the morning, ending for the most part by noon in much of the county, so the county avoided serious problems, authorities said.

County officials were concerned Sunday’s drenching would cause mudslides in the burned areas around the Upper Ojai, site of the 4,400-acre Ranch fire in December. But the storm was not as severe as had been expected.

Still, Hoffer said residents should remain prepared for slides, and to closely follow news reports during downpours.

A heavy surf advisory was posted for areas north of Point Conception, but Hoffer said the storm would make local waves stronger as well.

He cautioned against fishing from the jetties in the county because of the surf.

“It is extremely dangerous to stand on any of the jetties,” he said. “A large wave could just sweep up without warning.”