Friday evening forecast January 22nd
A total of three storms will bring a chance of rain along with mountain snow. This will bring a lot of instability to the region as snow levels lower and rain accumulates. Although rain will not be consistent, with a break from Saturday evening to Sunday morning and again midday Tuesday until Thursday.
The first storm arrived Friday with most rain accumulated over San Luis Obispo County. This has brought less than 0.25" in rain for most areas, with 0.10" or less along Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. As a colder air mass moves in Saturday morning, snow levels will drop with about an inch possible across elevations above 5,000 feet.
A chance of light showers will continue from Friday night into Saturday with about 0.15 to 0.33" across the region.
The next storm will move in Sunday night into Monday, with potential for 0.25 to 0.50" in rain across the region. This storm will be cold and bring snow. Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties mountain areas will be under a Winter Storm Watch from Sunday evening through Monday night. Heavy snow will be possible with 6 to 10 inches of fresh snow possible to areas above 4000 feet. Elevations between 3000-4500 feet looking at 3 to 6 inches of snow possible.
Daytime highs will range in the 50s to low 60s across coastal and valley areas until next Friday. Allowing for most locations to remain 8 to 16 degrees below average for the next several days. The coldest day anticipated to be on Monday as some locations will be in the low 50s.
