Early season storm forecast for Oct 22nd

Showers continue through this evening and will likely linger in to our Thursday. So far the brunt of this early season storm has been Santa Barbara and southern San Luis Obispo Counties. We have seen a few scattered thunderstorms and even a marine watch for possible waterspouts. A widespread Flood Watch is in effect for portions of Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties which will stay in play through Thursday afternoon. Overall we continue to expect mostly light to moderate amounts of additional rainfall, but thunder chances and heavier precipitation is still possible. Look for highs on Thursday to stay mostly in the 60's and winds will slowly turn from a southerly direction to a more northerly direction. 

Looking ahead, as the winds become more northerly and even slightly northeasterly, things will dry our and our temperatures will warm nicely through the weekend. Highs by Friday and Saturday should be back to near seasonal levels with upper 60's and 70's for all areas. A very week storm system will pass mostly to our north by late in the weekend and a slight chance for sprinkles could pop up for our northern areas. By early next week, the weak system passes and we once again see the winds turning more northerly and then northeasterly which means offshore. Temperatures will warm once again with the offshore flow, but shouldn't get too bad and stay far below last week's hot Santa Ana and Santa Lucia event which was record breaking.