A calm & dry Thursday, tracking strong storms this weekend
High pressure keeps us dry Thursday and warms temperatures up a few degrees. There will be some pockets of dense fog in the morning giving way to a mixture of sun and clouds. Highs will climb into the middle to upper 60s and it'll be a rather pleasant day.
Friday morning will be cool and cloudy. Some areas may experience dense fog and low level clouds, sadly the sun will not make an appearance as more rain treks into the area. By Friday afternoon our next set of storms take aim for the Central Coast. A potent and stronger cold front brings rain, winds and clouds overnight Friday into Saturday morning. Rain amounts with this system will range from a quarter of an inch to half of an inch, so small impacts expected.
The real heavy rain arrives Sunday night into Monday. This will be storm system number 3 and could bring our 4 day rain totals over 4inches in Santa Barbara. This storm will have moderate impacts as an impressive amount of moisture and instability. With instability, comes the chance for thunderstorms to develop as well. Confidence in timing of these storms is rising, but rainfall amounts appear to be tricky. The National Weather Service is stating that there will be periods of one inch per hour rainfall rates. Coastal flooding will be a concern, rain chances linger into Monday morning but by Tuesday we will return to a dry and rather stagnant weather pattern.