Rain is encouraging but much more is needed

Rain, heavy at times, has been encouraging, but the Santa Ynez Valley needs a steady storm flow to get out of the drought dry conditions.

The lake is the primary water source for Southern Santa Barbara County.

It is down 92 percent from where it stood in 2011 prior to the significant change in weather, and extremely low rainfall.

San Marcos Pass had some rocks and boulders during the peak hours of the storms. No major accidents were reported there as of 7 p.m. Traffic throughout the region was slow, in part because of the rain, but also because of the last minute shopping underway.

Travelers were both heading to holiday destinations and enjoying their time off to do some day trips.

In Solvang, the holiday decorations were hanging in there despite the wet weather and wind. Shoppers know to find unique gifts in the Danish town and today was the day for that. It also helped them to go inside many stores to dry off .

One Atascadero resident Cara O’Brien, was under an awning and said it felt like winter to have the rain after the dry years.

A visitor from Northern California said up there it was coming down “in buckets” and he thought he could escape it on the Central Coast.