KEEPING WEATHER WATCH\Center has finger on pulse of storm.

Byline: Kermit Pattison Daily News Staff Writer

With gray rain drumming against the windows, nine meteorologists gathered in a circle to spy on a storm blowing in from the Pacific Ocean.

Running his finger along swirling satellite image on the computer screen at the National Weather Service office in Oxnard, forecaster Mike Wofford traced the path of the storm, nicknamed the "pineapple express," blowing in from north of Hawaii to pound rain on the Southland.

"We're concerned about tonight," he said Tuesday. "That's when the largest amount of rain is going to fall in the shortest amount of time."

The nerve center of weather forecasting for all Southern California, the National Weather Service office in Oxnard, turned into a beehive of activity Tuesday as the staff raced to keep up with the storms soaking the Southland.

"It gets frantic," said Dennis Tussey, a hydrometeorological technician.

With responsibility for the vast eight-county region stretching from the Mexican border to Santa Maria, the Ventura County office serves as a kind of high-tech weather eye.

Satellites and Doppler radars let forecasters peer at weather patterns hundreds of miles away. About 1,000 gauges beam in data on rainfall, stream flows, wind and temperature from remote mountains and urban neighborhoods.

On Tuesday all eyes were on the swirling mass of subtropical moisture stretching 2,000 miles across the Pacific which continued to pelt California with rain. Flash flood watches stood in effect for Ventura and Los Angeles Counties and most of Southern California.

"As long as everything stays at this pace, we're OK," said Todd Morris, meteorologist in charge of the Oxnard office of the National Weather Service. "But we're in for a prolonged event here."

Morris stood before a huge relief map of southern California mounted across the wall as he pointed out canyons and low-lying areas in danger of flooding. Of particular concern, he said, are the seaward slopes of the Santa Monica, Santa Ynez and San Gabriel mountains which interrupt the storm's west-to-east flow and wring out rain like squeezing a sponge.

With each hour of rain, the soils became more and more soaked with water. Forecasters estimated the ground could absorb only half an inch of rain per hour before streams would begin to overflow, streets begin to flood and hillsides begin to let loose.

"Anything more than that and we're looking at more significant problems," Morris said. "In other words, flooding, mudslides and debris flow."

At 10:30 a.m., the nine employees huddled, surrounded by more than two dozen computer screens, as lead forecaster Mike Wofford began his briefing.

"No problems with flooding so far," he said. "We've talked with all the flood control agencies. We're in pretty good shape."

With the click of a mouse, Wofford brought up a map on the computer screen showing the main force of the storm dropping from Monterey toward Ventura and Los Angeles counties. By Tuesday night, he said, the full force of the storm would hit.

"We are concerned about tonight," he said. "We have a good amount of rain approaching."

Heads nodded. One meteorologist cracked a joke about houses in landslide-prone La Conchita turning into mobile homes.

Already crowded with extra staff called in to watch the storm, the crew braced for an even heavier onslaught. Administrators agreed to call in more off-duty personnel to deal with the deluge.

"We're Ok in the daytime," said Meteorologist Clay Morgan. "But if these spotter reports continue coming in the way they have been, we're going to need extra help in the evenings."

Within 15 minutes, the meeting broke up and the staff members returned to their computers and ringing phones.

In one corner, a man sat at a computer tapping out an aviation forecast to help pilots navigate the storm. In another cubicle, a meteorologist recorded an updated forecast on the weather radio as he read from a printout with the flair of a disk jockey.

Others picked up the incessant phone calls from travelers, newspapers, television and radio stations, flood control agencies and fire departments.

But the frenetic pace of the storm is nothing new to the office, which moved to Oxnard from Los Angeles in 1993.

The office had its trial by flood during the more powerful storms in January and March of 1995. Then staffers pulled marathon shifts working elbow to elbow under the glaring lights of television news crews.

"Last winter was quite a learning experience," said Tim McClung, the warning coordination meteorologist at the office. "We're much more seasoned and much more relaxed this year. After last winter, it will take a lot to get us razzled."

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PHOTO

Photo (1--color in SIMI edition only) Meteorologist Mike Wofford finds the rain. (2) The Oxnard facility's Doppler Radar graphic shows areas of rainfall. Andy Holzman/Special to the Daily News