The storm hitting the Tri Counties has turned out to be as big as advertised, with four to six inches of rain, and locally even more. But, perhaps nothing is as dramatic as the rainfall in Oxnard, which got more than a month’s worth of rain in less than an hour.
A thunderstorm hit the Oxnard and Port Hueneme areas at around 1:30 Thursday morning. Three inches of rain fell in less than an hour. It flooded streets, stranding some people who had to be rescued by firefighters. A number of homes were flooded.
Rainfall totals for the last five days from the pair of storms to hit the region include 5.5” in Oxnard, 3” in Santa Paula, 6.2” in Santa Barbara, 3.5” in Solvang, and 3.8” in San Luis Obispo.
The really impressive rainfall totals from this week’s pair of storms come from the Tri-Counties mountains. San Marcos Pass had 8.6”. Matilija Canyon in Ventura Canyon has had 9.7” of rain, and Gibraltar Peak above Montecito received 10.5”.
But, the topper is Rocky Butte. It’s the mountains of northwestern San Luis Obispo County. It’s had 15.9” of rainfall.
The rain isn’t over. The storm shifted south, so the focus is on Southern Santa Barbara County, and Ventura County, which could get another 1 to 3” of rain. The storm will turn into showers Friday, with clearing for the holiday weekend.
