A series of cold fronts will produce an unstable weather pattern with gusty southerly winds and periods of rain beginning Sunday and continuing through Tuesday.
Santa Lucia (northeast) winds on Saturday morning will create a chilly cool morning followed by afternoon northwesterly winds with mild temperatures across the central coast.
Nighttime lows will fall between the 30s and 40s across the central coast, while daytime highs will range from the 60s on the beaches, 60s to 70s in the coastal valleys (Santa Maria and Lompoc), and the mid-70s in the interior valleys (Santa Ynez).
A cold front is expected to move across northern Santa Barbara County on Sunday with rising clouds, mild to moderate southerly winds (8 to 18 mph) and light, scattered rain showers.
Another cold but stronger front will cross the entire county on Monday with moderate to cool southerly winds and rain (13 to 24 mph).
A low pressure system of 1,003 millibars and an associated cold front will follow on Tuesday with cool to strong southerly winds (19 to 31 mph), moderate to heavy rain and cool temperatures, all sites on the central coast will not reaching only the mid-50s.
Snow levels are expected to drop to 5,000 feet on Tuesday. The total rainfall amount (Sunday through Tuesday) is expected to be between 0.33 and 1.25 inches, with higher amounts in the mountains.
Strong to high northwesterly winds (25 to 38 mph), partly cloudy skies and cool temperatures are expected Wednesday, with Santa Barbara County locations only hitting highs of 50.
Clear skies with cold morning temperatures are expected Thursday and Friday as cool to strong (19 to 31 mph), and occasional gusty Santa Lucia winds develop. In fact, black ice could form on inland valley roads as temperatures are expected to drop to near-freezing levels.
Long-term models point to additional rains in the latter part of November.
Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
41/71 46/60 46/56 45/52 41/56 38/57 38/62 40/64
Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
39/75 42/68 41/60 39/56 36/59 34/64 36/67 37/68
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Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
43/67 48/62 47/58 46/56 43/57 41/59 40/63 44/67
Sea water temperatures will fluctuate between 53 and 56 degrees until Friday.
Northwesterly 5 to 7 foot seas (295 degrees, deep water) and swell (with a period of 5 to 12 seconds) are forecast Saturday through Monday afternoon, building to 7 to 9 feet (with a period of 7 to 14 seconds) from Monday evening to Wednesday.
Combined with this northwesterly sea and swell, there will be 2 to 4 foot southerly seas (190 degrees, deep water) on Monday and Tuesday.
A 4 to 6 foot northwesterly swell (290 degrees, in deep water) (with a period of 8 to 11 seconds) will develop Thursday, diminishing to 2 to 4 feet by Friday.
This date in the weather history (October 29):
1961 – Strong Santa Ana winds fanned flames from the Bel Air and Brentwood fires in southern California, destroying many homes.
At 10 p.m., the Los Angeles Civic Center reported a temperature of 74 degrees with a dew point of 5 degrees. On the 6th, Burbank reported 3% relative humidity. (The Weather Channel)
1987 – Low pressure off the California coast produced stormy weather in the southwestern United States. Flash floods have stranded 8,000 people in Death Valley National Park. (National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
2004 – In the past 24 hours, the DCPP Ocean Lab Rain Gauge recorded 2.09 inches of precipitation. The low pressure system that produced this rain continues to meander about 100 miles west of Diablo Canyon but is expected to begin southeastward movement later today; then turn east late Saturday to be inland south of San Diego Sunday afternoon.
2019 – The temperature yesterday morning dropped to 35 degrees at Paso Robles Airport, then rose to 85 degrees in the afternoon. A temperature rise of 50 degrees in less than 12 hours.
