——— Updated by Eduardo Huijon Jr. at 12:18 a.m. ———
According to the National Weather Service, tropical storm Hilary entered downtown Los Angeles at 7:00 pm.
While Hilary did not bring as much wind or thunderstorms as expected, it brought in plenty of rainfall for a majority of southern California.
The circulation center over LA set up a narrow convergence zone over an area of about 10 miles on either side of the Los Angeles and Ventura county line. This produced a very heavy band of rain that lasted for about 5 hours.
Luckily for the Central Coast, we are not going to see the storm overnight, as the tropical rainstorm continues to move up north.
At around 1 am, our models indicate that southern California will continue to see some rain, but there is still a possibility that there could be rain in the forecast for areas east of Santa Barbara early Monday morning at 6 am.
The National Weather Service still has an 'areal flood watch' warning in place for Santa Barbara County until 10 am Monday morning.
Tropical Rainstorm Hilary will be moving at a speed of 40mph overnight and is expected to reach northern Nevada around 5 am early Monday morning, as wind speeds will be moving around 35mph.
———7:30 p.m. update ———
——— Updated by Eduardo Huijon Jr. at 4:30 P.M. ———
Hello, Central Coast! Here are some of the latest updates from our models showing the latest weather headlines!
According to the National Weather Service, a moderate earthquake struck near Ojai Sunday afternoon.
The 5.1 magnitude quake was reported around 2:41 p.m. just over four miles southeast of the city in Ventura County.
Earthquake alerts went off to some people in Santa Barbara County where the Office of Emergency Management reports it was felt as well.
The National Weather Service says there is no tsunami expected from the earthquake.
Several aftershocks ranging between magnitude 3.1 and 3.6 have already been reported.
This is a developing story and will be updated as information becomes available.
The National Weather Service has a Flood Watch in place for Santa Barbara County until August 21, 2023, at 10 AM. Ventura County has a Flood Warning in place until Monday evening, which is set to expire around 7:45 pm.
Significant flooding and wind threats are likely to occur, especially over Los Angeles and Ventura Counties.
A majority of the storm is taking place east of the Central Coast, but since we are on the edge of the tropical storm system, we may see a chance of rain throughout San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties.
Moderate to heavy rain will continue to move through Los Angeles and Ventura Counties into tonight. It is expected to be heaviest in the mountains and desert regions. The National Weather Service has reported that isolated thunderstorms are also possible to take place.
Rain is expected to decrease during the overnight hours, as skies will begin to clear during the day on Monday.
Don't forget to download the KSBY Microclimate App for all the latest weather headlines!
——— Original Story ———
Happy Sunday, Central Coast! I hope everyone was able to enjoy their Saturday with nearly picture-perfect conditions across the region!
Sunday is also off to a pleasant start but that isn't going to stick around for too long, Hurricane Hilary is nearly here. Here is the latest with the storm.
Click here for interactive radar of the storm.
Early Sunday morning former Hurricane Hillary weakened to a tropical storm with sustained winds up to 70 mph. This downgrade was very much expected as the storm has been in cool waters and cut off from its energy for the past few days as it headed north. Even though it is weaker though still very significant impacts continue across Southern California.
Inches of rain and strong winds up to 70 mph are expected through northern Baja and into SoCal today. Many of those locations haven't seen the worst of it yet and have been facing significant rainfall for several days.
The greatest risk is flash flooding across the deserts and across most of the southern half of the state as the storm tracks north.
Let's time out that rain. Starting Sunday morning the edge of the rain has passed through LA and is knocking on our door. Rain will first begin along our eastern boarder and crawl west.
As it pushes west the heaviest rain is expected to be over the highest elevations where there is a little help from the topography. By early aftenoon most of the southcoast and interior valleys will be seeing rain.
The rain will continue to spread east and bring everyone at least a passing glance at rain by evening.
Late tonight into early Monday morning the storm will move north and retreat from the western beaches first and clear out by commute time Monday.
Remember that even with the highest rain totals expected in the interiors of Santa Barabara county that rainfall will need to go somewhere, small stream and arroyo flooding is possible even outside of those heaviest storms. Due to that risk there is a Flood watch in place through 10 a.m. Monday morning for the interior valleys of Santa Barbara County.
We are just on the edge of the storm so thankfully out of the more severe impacts. As far as rain totals go we can expect up to half an inch in some of the highest elevations of Santa Barbara County, a few tenths of an inch along the South Coast and mere hundredths at the western beaches and in San Luis Obispo. This tight gradient from nearly no rain to inches of rain in the grapevine is a very clear sign of the tropical dynamics at play.
As we head into Monday there will still be a few areas of storm instability in the region that will bring us some afternoon showers but nothing particularly significant. The main thing you will notice is the lingering winds and slightly increased waves.
Into the week temps will increase a bit alongside lots of sunshine for a wonderful week into a sunny and calm weekend.
Have a wonderful day Central Coast and stay safe especially on the roadways!
