Weekend Welcomes Drier, Cooler Air

It wasn’t exactly up to Noah’s standards, but the rain that fell for eight of the last nine days has finally dried up and Ventura County residents will be able to put their umbrellas and galoshes away.

However, the clearing skies will usher in breezier conditions with cooler daytime highs and decidedly nippy nights that hold the potential for temperatures to approach freezing in some inland areas Sunday and Monday, forecasters said.

Still, the respite is welcome news for the rain-weary who had been gearing up for another dose of pelting precipitation this weekend.

“That new incoming system this weekend is falling apart as it’s approaching California,” said Gary Ryan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Oxnard office. “Essentially for the next week we’re going to be dry.”

However, forecasters with private companies used by both Ventura County flood control officials and The Times disagree and are calling for a slightly more active pattern that includes a chance of showers Sunday. Still, any rain that does fall is expected to be light.

Meteorologists with WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times, predict that patchy morning fog today along the coast and in inland valleys will give way to partly cloudy skies and breezy conditions before clouds increase toward evening. Highs will be in the upper 50s and low 60s, with lows in the upper 40s and low 50s--significantly cooler than the July-like overnight readings of near 60 degrees that county residents enjoyed during the rains.

Sunday will again be breezy with the possibility of light showers and lows in the mid-40s to low 50s.

Still, inland residents should be prepared for even lower temperatures Sunday and Monday, forecasters said.

Meanwhile, the rain has left rising reservoirs, said county hydrologist Dolores Taylor.

Lake Casitas, the county’s largest reservoir, is just above 91% of capacity, she said.

“They’re within 8 feet of spilling,” Taylor said. “They usually keep going down until about December. . . . and they’ve been going up.”

County Rainfall

Here are rainfall figures from the Ventura County Flood Control Department for the 24-hour period ending at 5 p.m. Friday . Oct. 1 is the beginning of the official rain year.

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Rainfall Rainfall Normal rainfall Location last 24 hours since Oct. 1 to date Camarillo 0.28 8.81 4.61 Casitas Dam 0.39 17.29 7.60 Casitas Rec. Center 0.59 15.90 7.81 Fillmore 0.55 13.27 6.53 Matilija Dam 0.43 19.85 8.23 Moorpark 0.55 9.39 4.80 Upper Ojai 0.35 17.30 7.08 Oxnard 0.20 8.86 4.57 Piru 0.47 10.16 5.41 Port Hueneme 0.16 7.78 4.58 Santa Paula 0.39 12.26 5.88 Simi Valley 0.35 9.24 4.56 Thousand Oaks 0.20 9.48 4.86 Ventura Govt. Center 0.43 10.43 5.08

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