SLIPPERY CONDITIONS CRASHES, FLOODING RISK FOLLOW RAIN.Byline: Andrea Cavanaugh Staff Writer A flash-flood warning will be in effect tonight in fire-ravaged areas of Ventura County as the third storm system in as many days moves into the region this afternoon, weather forecasters said. The newest of the unseasonable un·sea·son·a·ble adj. 1. Not suitable to or appropriate for the season. 2. Not characteristic of the time of year: unseasonable weather. 3. Poorly timed; inopportune. autumn storms is expected to dump an inch to 3 inches of rain in the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County valleys tonight and Wednesday before tapering off, said Ben Moyer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. Three inches to six inches of rain is expected in the foothills and mountains. A storm that passed through the area Monday dropped about a quarter inch of rain in Chatsworth and Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. and less than a tenth of an inch in Van Nuys and Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. . A separate storm Sunday brought as much as 1.1 inches of rain to many Southern California communities. The wet weather contributed to a slew of traffic collisions Monday afternoon, including an overturned tractor-trailer on the Ronald Reagan Freeway at Interstate 5 and a crash on the Antelope Valley Freeway The Antelope Valley Freeway is a freeway in Los Angeles and Kern counties in southern California. It is signed as California State Highway 14 along its length. It connects Greater Los Angeles to the rapidly developing Antelope Valley. in Newhall that critically injured four people and backed up traffic for miles. Although the rainfall increases the risk of mudslides in Simi Valley, Moorpark, Fillmore and Piru, it will help ease the extremely high fire danger, Moyer said. ``It's kind of unusual to be this wet this early in the season,'' Moyer said. ``It increases the danger of flooding, but it should put a damper on the current fire weather season.'' Officials in the Los Padres National Forest Los Padres National Forest is a forest located in southern and central California, which includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast from Ventura to Monterey, extending inland. Elevations range from sea level to 8,831 feet. are hoping that heavy restoration work after the Piru Fire last fall will ease the threat of mudslides to the Santa Clara River Valley The Santa Clara River Valley is a rural region of eastern Ventura County, California and northwest Los Angeles County, California that is named for the Santa Clara River which winds through the valley before emptying into the Pacific Ocean between the cities of Oxnard and Ventura. , said Kathy Good, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service. ``We did a lot of work after the Piru Fire to stabilize the roads and culverts,'' she said. ``We're hoping that everything will perform as planned.'' More rainfall will be needed to relieve the record-low fuel moisture that has kept firefighters on alert during the summer and early fall, said Joe Luna, a spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department Not to be confused with Ventura Fire Department. The Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD) provides fire protection and emergency response services for the unincorporated areas of Ventura County, California, and for six other cities within the county. . ``It's always a welcome relief to get the first rain of the season, but it's going to take 3 or 4 inches of steady rain to soak the ground and get the moisture into the brush,'' Luna said. Andrea Cavanaugh, (818) 713-3669 andrea.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: A Caltrans truck with a plow for picking up debris keeps the road clear in Moorpark during the storm Monday. Tina Burch/Staff Photographer |
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