‘Looks like we drew the short straw:’ Rainstorm crawls in and out of Southern California

Was the band Creedence Clearwater Revival singing about Southern California when they asked, “Have you ever seen the rain?”

A much-anticipated storm on Friday brought little rain to Southern California, but plenty of gloomy, fall weather for the Halloween weekend.

The elusive rainfall seemed all too brief. And most of it stayed north of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego counties. About a foot of water and minor debris were reported along forest roads in Ventura County.

By early Friday, the storm dropped more than 1½ inches rain in San Luis Obispo County, according to the National Weather Service.

The storm set some rainfall records along the Central Coast, but even those numbers weren’t eye-popping.

“Looks like we drew the short straw here in extreme Southwest [California],” the weather service in San Diego tweeted Friday.

The low-pressure storm briefly elevated the risk of mudslides in Southern California foothill communities recently scorched by wildfires.

Residents in Duarte lined their neighborhood with sandbags and concrete barriers in preparation for the storm after a 5,399-acre wildfire weakened soil, trees and hillsides in the San Gabriel Mountain over the summer. In Glendora, residents were asked to prepare for more than an inch of rain.

“Based upon forecasts, we do not anticipate any significant problems,” the city of Glendora warned residents. “However, this is the first storm of the season and weather conditions can change quickly. Roads will be slick and we could get minor debris on the streets.”

The storm triggered a flash flood watch as a band of heavy rain and thunderstorms rolled over Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Ventura, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and other Southern California counties.

The weather service cautioned Los Angeles County drivers of slick road conditions after a line of showers moved into the area.

Light showers soaked Orange County, San Bernardino and Riverside counties on Friday, just in time for the morning commute.

Showers should taper off by Friday afternoon.

But another storm is expected to bring more rain Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning, when a cold front sweeps into the area.

The storm is unlikely to have an effect on the overall drought picture, experts said.

veronica.rocha@latimes.com

For breaking news in California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter.

UPDATES:

12:05 p.m.: This article was updated with new information about the storm and rainfall totals.

This article was originally published at 9:45 a.m.