Sunday Evening Forecast Jan 24th

(SHAWN)

Dry weather has prevailed for most of the region despite threatening clouds drifting in from the north. Expect to see light showers developing in our northern areas and spreading south and east through the late night and in to Monday. It will also be chilly with gusty northerly winds and very low snow levels! The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for the mountains of Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties which will last well in to Monday. A Wind Advisory will stay in effect for many areas through Monday night as well as Freeze Watches for portions of Ventura County through early Monday.
Looking ahead, with the storm door finally opened back up expect the current system to linger in to Monday with most areas seeing about another tenth to hopefully a quarter of an inch of rain. With a slight chance for a thunderstorm or two, some areas could see more and snow levels will possibly drop to under 2000-feet! This could affect roadways including the Grapevine or I-5.  We all know too well that means heavy traffic diverts over to our very  own 101 and it can get extremely busy!  We will keep a close eye on that and update as needed. Temperatures will continue to stay on the chilly side and winds from the northwest could be a little gusty .  A High Wind Watch is in effect for portions of interior San Luis Obispo County through Monday. Tuesday looks quiet with just the colder than normal temperatures sticking around.
The next and best chance for significant rainfall shows up by Wednesday.  A solid wave of moisture will drift in from the north and also possibly fed with a good moisture plume from the southwest. The key will be the exact positioning of both the low pressure center and moisture plume from the south. For now, it looks like the direct target is Big Sur and in to Southern California!   That is perfect for our region to pick up ample amounts of rain fed by strong southerly winds. We could then up seeing multiple inches of rain from Wednesday through possibly Friday or even Saturday. Of Course this could end being too much of a good thing and flood issues would then be a concern. We are on our toes in the First Alert Weather center and will be updating the forecast as needed up to and through the expected storm systems headed our way!