Unsettled weather for Saturday, warmer next week
Amounts were very small from Thursday night’s storm picking up trace amounts to just a couple hundredths of an inch.
A showery and windy weather pattern will remain in place through the weekend as a series of weather systems move over the region. A colder air mass moving in from the north on Saturday, bringing lower snow levels to the mountains. Highs will drop into the mid to upper 50s. A warming and drying trend will develop for early next week.
Santa Barbara South Coast wind advisory until 3AM Sunday. High surf for local beaches until Sunday. Winter weather advisory for Santa Barbara County & Ventura County mountains until Sunday morning due to mountain snow and gusty winds.
The first of our pair of storms went through the area last night and is now pushing into Arizona. The second storm, will slowly move through central California on Saturday, and on its way into Utah by Sunday. This storm is drier but colder than the first, and is taking a move over land path. Precipitation amounts as a result will be light, and focused over the northern mountain slopes. Some small hail is possible. Being colder, snow levels will lower down to 2,500 to 3,000 feet Saturday morning, meaning most mountains and some interior foothills will see some snow. Additional snow accumulations of 2 to 5 inches are expected in general for elevations above 4,000 feet, and the low-end Winter Weather Advisories will remain in play. Mountain roads will be impacted with delays or closures, including the Interstate 5 Tejon Pass/Grapevine. Pretty much all areas will be windy on Saturday. Outdoor weekend activities will be impacted, and make sure to anchor anything that could blow away if you must be outside. Temperatures will remain well below normal with highs primarily in the 50s. Things will quiet down Sunday. It will remain cool, but with far less clouds and wind. Overnight temperatures will be rather chilly, with a few spots (like the Central Coast and Ojai) near freezing Sunday and Monday mornings. A cold low pressure system will move through the Great Basin on Monday and fuel Santa Ana winds, with gusts of 30 to 45 mph over much of Ventura County. This will help further dry things out and bring noticeable warming back up to normal.
Offshore winds will continue from Monday into Tuesday, but be on the decrease. Tuesday will be a touch warmer than Monday but still generally around normal, with highs of 63 to 73 common. Wednesday looks rather benign with just a touch of cooling and more onshore flow.
