County Gets First Rain in 6 Months

After six dry months, rain finally fell on Ventura County on Tuesday, dampening cities from Simi Valley to Ojai, causing dozens of fender-benders and frustrating local farmers trying to harvest vegetables.

Cool air also swept through the region, chilling what had been unseasonably warm weather that had soared into the 80s last week. Tuesday’s high in the county was 63 degrees in Thousand Oaks.

“It a rather mild system but a welcome one,” said Bill Hoffer, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Oxnard. “We needed it because my trees were threatening to attack me.”

One-third of an inch of rain fell at Lake Casitas and a quarter of an inch was recorded in Ventura and Santa Paula. The eastern portion of the county received about a tenth of an inch, according to the Ventura County Flood Control District.

Overall, season rainfall totals in the county are about half the normal amount for this time of year.

“We’re a little behind, but that happened last year too. I think we’ll probably make up for the loss of rain pretty soon,” said Scott Holder, a county hydrologist.

Hoffer said it would be partly cloudy today with highs in the 70s and lows hovering in the mid-40s. No additional rain was forecast, and the weather should be dry for trick-or-treaters tonight, in time for the first full moon on Halloween since 1955.

Drivers didn’t seem to slow down to compensate for the wet roads, as law enforcement agencies reported more than four dozen crashes between dawn and late afternoon.

The long dry spell allowed oily films to build up on pavement, and the gentle rains created slippery surfaces that posed problems for drivers.

“For some reason, they keep on driving as though it was dry,” said California Highway Patrol Officer Wendy Moore.

One of the more serious crashes occurred about 6:30 a.m. when a big rig carrying furniture overturned at the Moorpark Road offramp of the northbound Ventura Freeway, according to the CHP.

Few details were released, but officers said the truck driver was taken to Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks for treatment. The man’s condition was unavailable.

In Los Angeles County, a tractor-trailer skidded and overturned on a freeway transition road in Boyle Heights during an afternoon squall, dumping a load of canned beer. The mess tied up evening commuter traffic for hours on the Golden State and San Bernardino freeways.

“It’s just the usual chaos out there,” said CHP Officer Mark Garrett.

Rudy Gonzales, region manager for Southern California Edison, said two power outages occurred in Ventura County when vehicles hydroplaned and crashed into power poles.

The first outage was reported in Fillmore about noon, affecting 1,002 customers who had their power restored by 2:45 p.m. At 5:15 p.m., a 30-second interruption occurred for 2,000 customers in Camarillo.

Ventura County ranchers and farmers weren’t enthusiastic about the rain because it forced pickers to delay harvesting ripe green, yellow and red bell peppers for about a day until mud-soaked fields dry.

“It’s been more of a nuisance. I mean, it will settle the dust, but the roads are sloppy, and we’re also trying to plant celery, and I suspect most vegetable farmers would like to have the rain about a month from now,” said Edgar Terry, president of the Ventura County Farm Bureau.

The first substantial rain also provided much-needed moisture for tinder-dry brushlands throughout Southern California.

With the arrival of the rain, Los Angeles County health officials issued an advisory warning swimmers, surfers and beachgoers to stay out of the ocean because of the threat of high bacteria levels. No such advisory was immediately issued for Ventura County beaches.

Runoff, especially if it is contaminated with sewage, can cause diarrhea, ear infections, skin rashes and other illnesses. Elevated bacteria levels can last for weeks.

Tuesday’s precipitation was the first measurable rain in Ventura County since April, said Holder, the county’s hydrologist.

In downtown Los Angeles, it was the first rain since April 22, a dry spell that lasted 190 days. That’s well short of the 219-day record set in that area in 1997, when measurable rain didn’t fall from Feb. 17 until Sept. 25.

Times staff writer Kenneth R. Weiss contributed to this report.