Raging Waters

If April showers really do bring May flowers, the entire South
Coast will resemble a budding botanic garden by the end of the
month. A curiously strong winter storm with no respect for the
spring season ripped into Santa Barbara County last Sunday
afternoon, bringing about record-setting rainfall, flood warnings,
and generally soggy mayhem that lasted through Wednesday. According
to the National Weather Service, a North Pacific weather pattern
ripe with unseasonably western wind is the culprit behind our
recent run of decidedly un-Santa Barbaran weather. If forecasters
are correct, this won’t be the last downpour of the season, as the
long-range charts predict at least two more wet weather
systems.

According to the Santa Barbara County Flood District, this
week’s wet fest was the 21st significant rainstorm of the season,
dropping 4.7 inches of rain in Santa Barbara, 4.26 inches in
Goleta, and a shoe-soaking 7.76 inches along the San Marcos Pass.
Besides pushing all our local reservoirs above maximum capacity and
ensuring healthy swimming holes and waterfalls for the early summer
season, this most recent downpour was also responsible for the
wettest day on record in the history of downtown Santa Barbara.
This record was set on Monday, when 3.9 inches of rain fell in a
24-hour period.