The Central Coast and Santa Barbara Southcoast got a really strong dose of rain over the last 24 hours. San Marcos Pass got more than 10” of rain while much of Santa Barbara County experienced 2-3” of rain. SLO County got a little less generally with 1-3” and Rocky Butte with nearly 6” of rain. Our rain forecast is not complete, another .25-1.5” is possible with the second part of the storm coming thru later Tuesday PM into Wednesday morning. Most of the daylight hours Tuesday won’t rain and neither will Wednesday as most rain falls while skies are dark. This is why you don’t get the rain icon on 7 Day forecasts (and icons are not a full weather story anyhow).
This next rain opportunity is a surface trough rotating around the upper level trough. There is cold unstable air aloft and this can produce showers but also a slight chance of thunderstorms.
There is still a flood watch in place for the region because we are saturated and with rain in the forecast it wouldn’t take much to cause additional flooding.
The high surf warning continues for the west-facing beaches for 15-20 foot breaekers and dangerous rip until 9pm Tuesday. A high surf advisory continues for the Southcoast for 6-10ft waves thru Tueday at 9pm. Additionally there is a coastal flood advisory in place until 9a Tuesday for coastal flooding due to the combination of tides and surf. The morning tidal bulge will be near 5.7ft.
After this next part of the storm we’ll get another break but an upper low will sit and spin off the coast. Most computer models show it coming onshore Sunday into Monday. This will bring up to another .50” of rain. It isn’t a huge storm but with recent saturation it is worth mentioning.
