Rain Lashes County in Season’s First Storm

The first storm of the season unleashed heavy rains Tuesday across Ventura County, drenching tinder-dry brushland, making roads slick and contributing to a fatal traffic accident near Ojai. Meanwhile, a threatened tsunami fizzled out before reaching county beaches.

More than 1 1/2 inches of rain fell in the mountains north of Ojai by late afternoon, while Thousand Oaks got 0.35 of an inch and 0.43 of an inch fell in Fillmore.

National Weather Service forecasters in Oxnard predicted a 30% chance of showers and brief gusty winds this morning, with skies clearing this afternoon.

Rainfall amounts varied widely because rain clouds moved in bands across the county, said Jerrett McFarland, a spokesman in the county’s Flood Control Department.

The easternmost area of Ventura received 0.63 of an inch by 5 p.m. Tuesday, for instance, while rainfall at the county’s Government Center six miles west measured just 0.28 of an inch, McFarland said.

“The storm concentrates on little areas and just sits there and drenches that area for a while,” he said.

A soggy morning drive contributed to at least a dozen fender-benders on streets and freeways from Oak Park to Ventura, and a fatal accident on California 33 about seven miles north of Ojai, officials said.

A car driven by an unidentified woman in her mid-30s, slid off a rain-slicked road and plunged 200 feet down an embankment, authorities said. The woman was ejected from the car during the accident. She was flown by helicopter to Ventura County Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. Her identity was not released Tuesday evening.

The rain caused no road closures or significant flooding anywhere in the county, authorities said.

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But officials closed the Thousand Oaks Library for today because of extensive water damage caused by the rain. Water leaked through the library’s roof and ceiling, which were heavily damaged in the January earthquake and are still undergoing repairs.

Meanwhile, an earthquake of at least 7.9 magnitude off the coast of Japan prompted officials at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center to issue a tsunami alert for the entire Pacific coast.

For a short time Tuesday, public safety officials in Port Hueneme, Oxnard and Ventura were making emergency plans in case the giant sea wave reached those coastal cities. Oxnard activated its emergency operation center and police in Port Hueneme and Ventura were asked to work late in case the tsunami hit, officials said.

A sheriff’s helicopter flew low over beaches at Hollywood-by-the-Sea and Silver Strand, warning stray walkers about the tsunami. Sheriff’s Deputy A.C. Quintero said one Hollywood Beach resident was so alarmed that she began packing items in her house.

“She packed up all her pictures and said she was ready to head for Los Angeles,” Quintero said.

But other coastal residents took the warning in stride. Louis Spagnuolo of Hollywood-by-the-Sea said he has heard several warnings about “big waves” over the past nine years.

“Nothing ever really happens,” Spagnuolo said. As a result, he said, “people today are not even paying attention.”

By Tuesday afternoon, the warning was downgraded based on observations of the wave as it traveled across the Pacific Ocean, said Sue Pitts, a spokeswomen for the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. The tsunami measured just one foot high when it hit the Hawaiian Islands, she said.

“You would not even know when it hits, it’s that tiny,” Pitts said.

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But even as the tsunami threat dissipated, officials were bracing for more heavy rain Tuesday night. Precipitation this time of year is unusual because October and November normally are marked by tinder-dry east winds, said John Weikel, a county hydrologist.

“It is beneficial rain,” Weikel said. “It is soaking into the ground and alleviating the fire danger,” he said, referring to wildfires that devastated parts of the county last year.

“I’d much prefer to have it overcast and windy than to have hot, dry winds and fires.”

Ventura County Fire Chief James E. Sewell said the rain will help dampen trees and brush dried out during the summer. But he said it would be premature to cancel the fire-watch season.

“It takes a lot of water to change the moisture content of trees and shrubs,” he said. “It has to get up into the leaves and the bark.”

The rains could allow farmers to skip an irrigation cycle or two, said Rex Laird, director of the Ventura County Farm Bureau. But it also could force strawberry growers to spray fungicide if the weather turns warm and humid in the next few days, he said.

“Rains followed by hot and sticky weather just makes the fungus go wild on strawberries,” Laird said.

Times correspondent Ira E. Stoll contributed to this story.

County Rainfall

Here are rainfall figures from the Ventura County Flood Control District for the 24-hour period ending at 9 p.m. Tuesday. Oct. 1 is the beginning of the official rain year.

Rainfall Rainfall Normal rainfall Location last 24 hours since Oct. 1 to date Camarillo 0.35 0.35 0.05 Casitas Dam 0.56 0.56 0.06 El Rio n/a n/a 0.04 Fillmore 0.43 0.43 0.05 Moorpark 0.31 0.31 0.04 Ojai 0.71 0.71 0.05 Upper Ojai 0.43 0.43 0.06 Oxnard n/a n/a 0.03 Piru 0.24 0.24 0.05 Santa Paula n/a n/a 0.05 Simi Valley n/a n/a 0.04 Thousand Oaks 0.35 0.35 0.04 Ventura Govt. Center 0.28 0.28 0.04