A significant winter storm expected to hit Southern California this Wednesday has triggered a flood watch for Santa Barbara County from the National Weather Service. The flood watch is in effect from Wednesday evening to Thursday afternoon.
The storm is currently forecast to bring one to two inches to the coasts and valleys and up to four inches in the foothills and mountains, the NWS stated. The heaviest rains are anticipated Wednesday night into Thursday morning, with a quarter inch to half inch of rain per hour common and as much as 0.75 inches per hour possible.
With the heavy rains come the potential for roadway flooding, rock/mudslides, and debris flows near recent burn scars, of particular concern for the fresh burn scars from January’s L.A. fires and the Santa Ynez Valley’s Lake Fire. Last month, an evacuation order was issued for parts of the Lake Fire burn scar during a storm that brough just over two inches of rain.
The flood watch comes the same week that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which includes the NWS, is preparing to cut another thousand workers at the behest of the Trump administration, following the firing and resignation of roughly 1,300 NOAA staff members in recent weeks, the New York Times reports. NOAA managers have been asked to complete their proposals by Tuesday.
Resources:
· Storm readiness tips: http://www.readysbc.org/StormReadiness
· For status of highways: https://roads.dot.ca.gov/
· For status of county roadways: https://www.countyofsb.org/2116/Road-Closures
· For county sandbag filling locations: https://www.countyofsb.org/2219/Sandbags
Sign up for ReadySBC Emergency Alerts: https://member.everbridge.net/index/892807736723794#/signup
Detailed weather forecasts are available at https://www.weather.gov/lox/.
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