Tracking a sequence of cold storms this weekend
Most of the Central Coast will wake up to rain and cloud cover to start out the first of March. Winds are strong and will pick up this afternoon as the next cold front approaches. The National Weather Service has issued a Wind Advisory in higher elevations in the Santa Ynez from 10PM Friday to 10AM Sunday. Southwest winds could gust up to 50mph. A High Surf Advisory is in effect for the entire Central Coast beaches as our next swell will create 10-20FT waves north of Point Conception and 5-7FT waves in the southern half. It will be a soggy, cool and and cloudy day. There will be some heavier rain embedded in showers later Friday night into Saturday morning. Keep this in mind and plan accordingly, as winds and rain can cause hazardous travel conditions.
Saturday will still be cool and we can expect even more rain. Our last cold front will exit Saturday afternoon bringing in the coolest air we have seen all season. Temperatures will be 15-20 degrees below average for almost the entire viewing area. With these super cooled systems, less moisture is available so rainfall amount will still be moderate but minimal impacts compared to recent storms. South facing beaches can expect 1-2inches while around an inch or less is expected elsewhere. While these storms have a lot of instability, most of the colder and unstable air is just to the north of the viewing area, meaning we have almost no chance for thunderstorm development.
Sunday will be cool and rainy to start out but then dry and slightly warmer by the evening. All of these unsettled and cold storms will move east and cold wet air will be replaced by drier air and sunnier skies. We will only see a quick break from the rain. Temperatures warm slightly Monday but highs will still be below average. Tuesday and Wednesday there will be another slight chance for rain, but models appear to be disorganized.
