Coastal flooding Christmas Eve, tracking rain and winds
Merry Christmas Eve and happy holidays! Santa is on his way to the Central Coast and may run into fog and light rain early Tuesday morning. Luckily, he is well equipped for any weather and will have an umbrella on standby! Light rain moves into northern communities early in the morning so slick roads and fog will cause a slowdown for your early morning commute. Rain moves south by lunch and we may see a light sprinkling in Santa Barbara. Areas south of Gaviota will not see measurable rain as opposed to San Luis Obispo, which could close in on half an inch. Not impressive rainfall but needed moisture. Dangerous surf is expected along the coastline until the evening. Coastal flooding and waves close to 25Ft will impact west facing beaches, strong rip currents were reported near Santa Barbara beaches. Winds are up to advisory levels so your outdoor decorations will need to be brought inside as winds could near 50mph. Rain ends by dinner and the Central Coast dries out just in time for Christmas day.
Christmas Day is shaping up beautifully as we dry out and warm up a few degrees. Fog will be a problem early in the morning but clouds will give way to mostly sunny skies by the middle of the day. Temperatures will be cool, as we are in the wake of a cold front. Expect highs to be into the 50s and 60s with light winds. Overnight lows cool into the 40s and 50s.
Thursday will be copy and paste with fog in the morning and clearing by midday. Temperatures will not change much and winds remain light. More active weather north of the coverage zone will bring in a slight chance for showers into the overnight hours, but likely only a misting will make it to the ground. Another front moves through over the weekend, keeping temperatures cooler than average and bringing another slight chance of rain. The First Alert Weather Center will monitor this.
