Light Rain Dampens County, Mars Tournament

A light rain fell throughout most of Ventura County on Friday but officials said the much-needed sprinkling would have no effect on this year’s fire season and provide little relief for vegetation and stagnant water supplies.

By late afternoon, between a trace and one-fifth of an inch had fallen on most northern and western communities, but Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley remained dry.

More light rain was forecast through the weekend.

“It appears we still get rain in April,” said Stuart Seto, a specialist at the National Weather Service in Oxnard. “It helps because we haven’t had any in a while. But mostly what it’s going to do is wet the grass.”

Seto said residents can expect drizzle or light rain early today and tonight, and again Sunday morning. Total rainfall amounts were not expected to exceed one-tenth of an inch.

Daytime skies were forecast as mostly cloudy this weekend with high temperatures today in the mid-60s and lows in the low-50s. Forecasters say brisk winds also could move through the region today.

Sunday is expected to be slightly cooler.

The forecast wasn’t the best of news for Jim Sligh, a spokesman for the normally well-attended Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament, the 102nd edition of which started Friday and runs until Sunday afternoon.

“It was raining all morning and we spent hours getting the courts dry,” Sligh said Friday, following a six-hour rain delay at Libbey Park’s 10 cement courts.

Only about 0.05 of an inch fell, but it was enough to flood the courts.

When play resumed about 2 p.m., entrants were told to play matches of no more than eight games rather than the standard best-of-three sets.

The stands were about half full Friday afternoon, and event organizers were hoping for bigger crowds today and Sunday.

Scott Holder with the Ventura County Flood Control District said trace amounts of rain have fallen a couple of times in the past few weeks but the last really significant local downpour occurred in February.

“We’re still running about 50% of normal for rainfall in the county,” Holder said.

This season’s rainfall total in Ventura County is 6.78 inches, compared with nearly 24 inches at this time in 2001.

Joe Luna, a spokesman with the Ventura County Fire Department, said the light rain would not decrease the danger for the current fire season, which started earlier this month..

“This weather is nice but we would need a substantial amount of rain to make a difference, to lessen the fire danger,” Luna said.