Good morning, Central Coast! Happy Thursday. We are experiencing a rather wet pattern in the forecast for the latter half of the week. Here are some of the latest weather headlines taking place for the Central Coast. The first band of storms brought rain to the Central Coast late Wednesday evening into the early morning hours on Thursday. Dry weather is expected for most areas on Friday and Saturday, but there is a chance for some scattered light showers to occur, mainly north of Point Conception and in the mountains. There is a chance for a second and likely much stronger storm that could arrive Sunday with periods of moderate to heavy rain and mountain snow through at least next Wednesday. Let's dive in!
There is a strong cold front currently moving over the Central Coast today. The frontal dynamics and strong southerly flow ahead of the front produced moderate to heavy rainfall. The rainfall rates are between a quarter inch and a half inch per hour (.15"-.25"/hr SLO county) except across the south slopes of the Santa Ynez range where rates are a half inch to near an inch per hour are occurring. This high-intensity rainfall will continue to move to the east with the rain peak arriving in southern California around 7 am.
As the front continues moving along it will minimize the flash flooding threat. However, Santa Barbara County has an Aeral Flood Advisory until 7 am this morning. The front will bring about 2 inches of rain to most of the coasts and valleys (perhaps a little less across the Central Coast). The south slopes south of Point Conception will likely see 3 to 5 inches of rain.
Santa Barbara County has a High Wind Warning in place until 5 am. However, there continue to be several advisories the storm brought to the Central Coast.
However, both San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties have a Wind Advisory in place this morning until 7 am.
Periods of strong southerly winds are also expected in the mountains with gusts up to 50-60 mph, especially on the higher peaks.
There is a High Surf Advisory in place for San Luis Obispo County and Santa Barbara County through Saturday evening until 5 pm. All west-facing beaches will surf over 8 feet, but Central Coast beaches could be peaking up to 18 feet.
The largest storm of the season will begin late Saturday night into Sunday as an upper low is expected to spin down the coast and merge with another upper low moving in from the west. This will create a powerful upper low just west of the Bay Area that will tap into an atmospheric river across the Pacific Ocean. The heaviest portion of the storm is expected to be Sunday night into Monday.
Have a wonderful day, Central Coast! Don't forget to download the KSBY Microclimate Weather App for the latest weather headlines.
