We are less than a day away from active weather impacting the Central Coast.
Several systems will impact the area Friday afternoon through Monday. There will be some lulls in activity over the weekend, but the cumulative impact will mean inches of rain for some.
Right now, the calm before the storm continues. Just the increasing clouds we were expecting.
There will be mostly cloudy skies through the overnight into early Friday. A few light showers are possible early Friday but Friday afternoon into Saturday morning we will see the first of several surges of rain go through the Central Coast. Most folks should see less than an inch with the first push of rain but parts of SLO county could see up to 1.5” (locally more is possible).
Then on and off showers are possible through Saturday before another more active period Saturday night into Sunday, still generally light to moderate impact only.
Sunday PM-Monday AM looks to feature the heaviest rain potential and heaviest rainfall rates. Up to .50”/Hr. Thunderstorms are also possible, with about a 20% chance early Monday.
With the cumulative potential, there is some potential for small stream and urban flooding.
Additionally, winds will pick up. Friday PM into Saturday some S winds 15-20 with gusts past 25mph are possible. Another similar wind event is possible later Sunday into Monday. No advisories yet for that but something may be issued later.
There are surf advisories for SLO and Santa Barbara counties from Saturday into Sunday. The largest waves in SLO County (8-12ft). But 4-7ft in the channel is also enough for an advisory.
Snow levels during this system are very high locally (and regionally). Above 7000ft for any significant accumulation.
After Monday, models don’t see much coming into early February.
Just a note, this is technically not an atmospheric river event though we are very close to a plume Sunday into Monday. The location of the plume is something to watch.
