What was predicted to be a major series of storms in the Tri-Counties Christmas week lived up to the billing, with some massive rainfall totals. There was more than 6" of rain on the coast, and some local mountain areas topped 17" of rainfall.
In Ventura County, the totals for the five-day-long event included 6.3" of rain in Thousand Oaks, 6.1" in Moorpark, 5.5" in Oxnard, 6.6" in Ventura, and 11.5" in Ojai.
Santa Barbara County also had some impressive rainfall totals from the storms. Santa Barbara recorded 6.6" of rain, Goleta 7.1", and San Marcos Pass 14.6".
The atmospheric river fueling the storms was focused south of Point Conception, so rainfall totals on the Central Coast were much lower than on the South Coast.
Lompoc recorded 4.9" of rain, Santa Maria 2.8", Nipomo 2.3" and San Luis Obsipo 4.5".
Street flooding was reported in some areas.
The Ventura Fire Department, and the Ventura County Fire Department teamed up on Christmas night to rescue a man in Ventura. He became stranded on an island in the Ventura River beneath the Highway 101 overpass. They had to use a lift mechanism to lower a firefighter down to rescue the man. The man was cold, wet, and scared, but otherwise unhurt.
