A cool & breezy Tuesday, tracking showers & thunderstorms Wednesday/Thursday

The Central Coast sits between two areas of low pressure Tuesday. This means minimal marine layer coverage and mild temperatures. Winds have calmed down significantly from yesterday and there are no watches, warnings, or advisories. Highs will still be well below average sunny skies will warm Santa Barbara into the upper 70s. Most other coastal areas reach into the upper 50s and mid 60s, interior areas stay well below average, warming into the upper 60s and low 70s.

Our next low pressure system arrives Wednesday. This system will bring more marine clouds, gusty winds and the possibility of rain. By Wednesday afternoon the center of low pressure will be just north of San Luis Obispo County. By lunchtime, we see the first rain chances in northern counties and by the evening, the chances for showers to spread to the south facing beaches and Ventura County. This system is rather dry, meaning we will likely see less than a tenth of an inch most places, but higher terrain could see closer to a quarter of an inch. This system is very unstable so thunderstorms could develop and produce locally heavy periods of rain, but rain will be fast moving and impacts remain minimal.

Thursday will be cool and cloudy. The marine layer hovers over the beaches and will likely produce misting and drizzle. Our rain chances hold at 40% through the first half of the day before we see low pressure move out of the state. By the evening, its possible we could see sunny skies and start to dry out.