Light rain arrives in Northern Counties, tracking widespread heavy rain this Easter weekend
A weak cold front sweeps through California Thursday morning, cooling temperatures and causing periods of rain. Since this system is so weak and on the verge of dissipating, were only expecting a quick set of isolated storms in the northern half of the viewing area. Rain amounts will be very light with Santa Barbara and Ventura counties likely staying dry. Santa Maria and other counties may see a quarter of an inch, storms will clear by the middle of the day. Clouds begin to clear as well and it will be a rather pleasant afternoon. Highs warm into the 60s and high surf returns. A High Surf Advisory is set for Northern Santa Barbara Counties and San Luis Obispo, starting at 9am with waves expected to near 8-12ft. Another High Surf Advisory was issued for Ventura counties where waves could be 5-7ft.
Friday morning will be calm and cool. We may see a few areas of fog, but all eyes will be on the next storm system. Off the coast of San Francisco is a brewing potent storm. Low pressure will move closer to the coast and a plethora of moisture will be funneled into the Central Coast. Starting Friday afternoon, the rain moves onshore to SLO counties. Winds strengthen and turn southwesterly, which allows these storms to dump a lot of rainfall near south facing beaches and in Ventura counties. Models have come to very good agreement about how much rainfall we can expect to see and here in Santa Barbara, its looking to be well over 2.5 inches. The heaviest rain will occur overnight Friday into Saturday morning. A Wind Advisory goes into effect at 3pm for San Luis Obispo counties and Northern Santa Barbara Counties as well. Southerly winds could gust up to 45mph and could possibly down trees or power lines.
Saturday will be soggy and cooler. Most temperatures will fall into the upper 50s and lower 60s as cool, moist and unstable air sit on top of Southern California. If you're traveling on Saturday, make sure you are staying up to date with the forecast as roadway flooding will be a top concern. For your Easter plans, make sure to bundle up and grab those umbrellas as the wet pattern continues into Sunday. Monday and Tuesday will be calm and drier. Temeratures will rebound to normal by Tuesday and Wednesday, more rain will arrive by next weekend!
