The Central Coast started the week with hard freeze conditions in the interior and Tuesday morning looks to be even colder. Tonight, coastal valleys and some beach communities will also have significant freeze concerns.
A hard freeze warning is in place for the interior tonight where overnight lows can drop into the mid-20s. Those kinds of cold conditions can kill plants but also burst pipes. Anyone concerned about overnight low temperatures should be taking precautions and preparing now.
Coastal valleys including the Lompoc Valley Santa Maria Valley and Santa Ynez Valley along with San Luis Obispo and the Edna Valley have a freeze warning in place overnight into tomorrow morning. While temperatures may not be as cold as the interior valleys, they will be cold enough to damage plants potentially. People in this advisory area should also consider precautions against the overnight cold conditions.
Despite the cold start, there will be plenty of sunshine on Tuesday pushing daytime highs back into the 50s and low 60s for most of the area.
Two frontal boundaries move through the area one on Tuesday and another on Wednesday.
Wednesday's front could produce a few scattered showers but more importantly, the two frontal boundaries will crank up the winds across the area.
The area of most concern is the Santa Barbara County mountains and the southwestern portion of the county. A wind advisory is in place from 10:00 AM Tuesday to 4:00 PM Wednesday for the SW portion of Santa Barbara County including the Gaviota Pass and the Santa Ynez mountains. Winds 20 to 30 mph can gust to 55 mph during the wind advisory.
Following the wind advisory, a high wind warning is likely for the mountains and the southwestern portion of Santa Barbara County. Right now, that area is under a high wind watch from 4:00 Wednesday through late Thursday for winds out of the northwest 25 to 35 with gust potential to 60 and 70 mph. The key concern would be that damaging winds can blow down large objects such as trees and power lines.
There is also a high surf advisory for the West facing Central Coast from 9:00 PM Tuesday to 9:00 AM Friday for 10-to-15-foot waves which will grow to 12 to 17 feet on Thursday. Additionally, there is a coastal flood advisory for the same area from 3:00 AM Tuesday to noon on Tuesday where minor flooding is possible during the morning high tides.
Looking into the extended forecast temperatures hover in the 50s and low 60s for most of the area into the weekend and early next week. Another weak frontal boundary is possible this weekend which could produce a few showers but right now the chances of that are roughly 10%. Mid-range modeling shows some activity in The West but no large storms are anticipated for the Central Coast.
