Winter weather on the Central Coast boosts tourism with visitors from freezing locations

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The mild winter weather is heating up tourism on the Central Coast.

Visitors on a vacation who left their homes, sometimes in the snow, have come to warmer areas to thaw out.

Andrea Villeneuve is from Munich. She was on the Santa Barbara waterfront and said, "it's a cold day in Santa Barbara, but it is a hot day for me."

A former resident of Erie, Pennsylania now from Ventura, said her family was nearly snowed in. Ann Marie Lidren said, "my family is there now. I just talked to them, they are sometimes exiting from the second story window because the snow is that high." After the latest weather blast, "They are getting one to two today. Feet, not inches."

This time of year Southern California is very popular with with many people coming out to see the Rose Parade, going to amusement parks and if they are from a very cold area they want to find a warmer place for a week or so.

Gail Franks was traveling from England and said the sunshine around Stearns Wharf was "heaven. absolute heaven." She was on a long walk, making dinner plans and looking for New Year's Eve music.