Sunday Soaking

It was a stay-inside-and-drink-coffee kind of day for most Ventura County residents as a mild storm crept through the region Sunday and dropped up to an inch of rain in the mountains.

The brunt of the storm from the Gulf of Alaska hit the county late in the afternoon, but it was expected to pass through by late evening. There is a 40% chance of more rain today, forecasters said.

“It’s a little early in the season for this, so we’ll be ahead of past October rainfall totals,” said Stuart Seto, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

In an average October, Seto said, the county receives about 0.75 of an inch of rain.

On Sunday, an inch fell in Ojai, and three-quarters of an inch was reported in Ventura. Half an inch fell in Oxnard, and a quarter-inch had fallen in both Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks, where it was still raining late Sunday.

This is the second storm of the month. The first hit the county last week, dropping up to a quarter-inch on most cities.

Slick roadways and minor street flooding were rampant throughout the county Sunday, contributing to more than two dozen vehicle crashes, authorities said. No serious injuries were reported.

Winds that kicked up to between 10 and 15 mph snapped several trees that struck power lines and knocked out electricity to a small number of homeowners in four communities.

Outages lasting less than an hour each were reported in Silver Strand Beach, Oxnard, Santa Paula and Ojai. In most cases, fewer than 10 customers were affected.

“It’s been relatively quiet this whole weekend,” said Nancy Williams, regional manager for Southern California Edison.

Strong winds were just what the surfers ordered. Dozens flocked to Surfers Point in Ventura at sunset Sunday and caught waves measuring between 5 and 7 feet.

“There was a surf advisory for above-normal waves in the Point Mugu area” too, Seto said.

Shoppers weren’t as thrilled with the wet weather.

“There’s not many people walking around, because of the weather,” said Leopoldo Torres, a cook at Andria’s Seafood Restaurant & Market at Ventura Harbor. “Everything’s pretty quiet.”

Federal weather specialists said the storm brought a mass of colder air off the coast, which will linger through tomorrow and cap high temperatures in the 60s.

“With that instability, we may see more showers” this morning, Seto said. The rain was expected to clear by this evening, and Tuesday was forecast as sunny and slightly warmer.

Low temperatures throughout the county Sunday were in the 50s, but it was downright nippy in Thousand Oaks, where the thermometer dipped to 45 degrees.

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Correspondent Gail Davis contributed to this story.