Hold onto your hats, folks! We're in for a wild weather ride this weekend as a late-season storm barrels into our region, promising a mix of rain, snow, and thunderstorms. Here's what to expect!
Right off the bat here are a couple very helpful links!
Interactive Radar
Current Rain Totals
CHP Incident Reports
Power Outage Map
KSBY Microclimate Weather App
Here are the key points of the forecast:
- Rain showers will continue Saturday morning and stick around through Sunday.
- Snow is forecasted for higher elevations, mainly for Santa Barbara County
- Thunderstorms are likely, mainly on Sunday
- Winds, waves and limited visibility expected
- Monday will mark the start of a warming trend, bringing dry weather for the week ahead.
—Update (3:13 p.m.): A flood advisory is in effect from now through 7:30 p.m. in eastern Santa Barbara County due to excessive rain. This may result in roadway/small stream flooding, and potential for rock slides and mudslides.
—Update (2:42 p.m.): Flooding once again closed Highway 1 between Black Road and Solomon Road outside Santa Maria. The closure went into effect Saturday afternoon.
With rain falling across the Central and South coasts, the California Highway Patrol has responded to several reports of crashes and roadway flooding throughout the day.
———Update at 12:30 p.m. from Meteorologist Vivian Rennie. ———
A flood advisory has been issued for much of the Central Coast through 3:30 p.m. This is thanks to all this heavy rain causing minor small stream and low lying area flooding.
———Here is a quick storm discussion from Meteorologist Vivian Rennie at 10:30 a.m. ———
——— Original Article ———
Diving into the details, all this rain and active weather we are focusing on this weekend is from a storm originating up in the Gulf of Alaska, what that means for us is significant rain and a lot of cold air. This arrived late Friday night first bringing wind gusts and the first few storms overnight.
I really like the way this timeline shows the storm.
Multiple bands of rain will push through the region Saturday morning, becoming more widespread into the evening. Sunday will be a bit more off and on but will also include the chance for thunderstorms. Hail is expected and localized flooding possible.
Here is another way to look at that time line - a little more focused into San Luis Obispo County.
Saturdays rain started off mild but will become more widespread late morning into the early afternoon as the front pushes through the region.
There appears to be less activity from the afternoon until Sunday morning when the upper-level low crosses over the area when rain resumes and a chance of thunderstorms.
Rain will wind down Sunday evening with rainfall totals ranging from 0.75 to 1.50 inches across the region and up to 3.00 inches in mountainous areas.
Thunderstorms are possible, especially on Sunday, potentially bringing heavy rain, small hail, and gusty winds. Waterspouts and tornadoes are also possible with thunderstorms.
Snow levels will drop to 4000-5000 feet by Saturday night, with significant accumulations expected above 6000 feet.
Due to expected hazardous conditions, winter weather advisories are in effect for mountain areas in SBA, Ventura, and LA counties. For Santa Barbara County the advisory is from 5 am Saturday until 5 pm Sunday.
There is a high surf advisory in effect for west-facing beaches along the Central Coast. The advisory is from 9 pm Saturday until 9 pm Sunday for 6-10ft breakers with rip currents.
The wind advisory in place for Friday night to Saturday morning has expired, that being said below advisory wind gusts are still expected.
Highs over the weekend will generally be in the 50s to the low 60s. That marks a massive cool down from the mid 80s that marked this week.
After the storm departs dry and warmer conditions are on the horizon as a ridge builds along the West Coast.
Expect mostly clear to partly cloudy skies, with the warmest days likely on Wednesday and Thursday when temps return to the 60s to mid-70s.
Coastal low clouds and fog may develop during the night and morning hours, but overall, the week ahead looks to be dry and pleasant. Looking into the extended forecast it looks like there is some very good news in store! Next weekend looks to be dry and warm.
I am going to hold onto that thought through this tricky weekend.
