Rain expected for President’s Day, Monday Feb 19th forecast

Latest round of rain continues to roll across the entire area. The whole region is under a Flash Flood Watch with portions of Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties under a Flash Flood Advisory. This means that some flooding is expected for places along the South Coast and down in to northwestern Ventura County. Wind advisories and warnings for strong southerly gusts will stay in effect in to Monday as well. We also a have large westerly swell and with the strong southerly wind, wind swell will add to very large surf along the coast. High Surf Advisory as well as possibly some early morning coastal flooding possible as that is when high tide occurs. Fortunately, tides right now are not extreme and that should help to minimize flood potential. Snow levels will stay on the high side with potential for heavy accumulations above 6 to 7 thousand feet and lowering to around 5 thousand feet by early Wednesday.

Looking ahead, by late Monday the showers will start to become more sporadic and light. Another strong pulse of energy is possible in Ventura County and areas south of there with just light showers expected elsewhere. More widespread light to moderate showers will be expected by Tuesday afternoon and lasting until very early Wednesday. Total accumulations when all done and said, still look to be in the range of 2 to 4 inches along our coastal plains with much higher totals possible for foothills and mountains. Temperatures will stay on the cool side, but with the southerly flow, should not be overly cold with highs mostly in the 50's and 60's. We expect to see some much needed drying out time from Thursday through Saturday. Another storm system is then poised to roll in to the West Coast. We could see another round of moderate showers developing by late Sunday. It's still a bit far off and our forecast models are not in full agreement as to what is expected. We will watch closely and update the forecast as needed for the next system.