Wednesday evening forecast – March 25th

Tuesday we saw scattered light showers pass on through. Temperatures were well below average with highs in the 50s along the Central Coast and 60s along the South Coast. Mainly light showers are expected through Thursday night, and there is a slight chance of thunderstorms in some areas Thursday afternoon and evening. Snow levels will lower and bring relatively light amounts.

A cold upper level trough is diving south along the west coast and will be generating scattered showers with low snow levels through Thursday night. We saw the first wave of showers come through Tuesday.  There are plenty of breaks in between the showers and most areas have also had a fair amount of sunshine. After the sun sets and we lose the heating, shower activity is expected to decrease quite a bit. Temperatures tonight will be cool in the 40s along the coast and upper 30s inland.

Then on Thursday as the trough gets closer another wave of showers is expected to move through the area. The air mass will be colder but the coldest air isn't expected to arrive until later in the afternoon and evening, this should bring snow down to 2,500 ft. It's during this period that there will be a small chance of a thunderstorm. Amounts for now are expected to be very small below 0.25". Areas along the south coast can expect more sunshine and they may even miss getting rain, while the mountains see a dusting of snow.  Highs on Thursday will be chilly in the mid 50s to mid 60s.  The wind will be strong Thursday afternoon and evening.

Friday and Saturday should be dry and a little warmer, though still a few degrees below normal. Likely some gusty northerly winds at times across southern Santa Barbara County.  We expect to get back to 70 degrees as we approach Monday.