As unlikely as it often seems, Santa Barbara County has experienced two rainy weekends in a row.
Though a drop in the bucket given the state’s record drought, the weekend storm dumped half an inch of rain on Santa Barbara by Saturday night.
Scattered showers on Sunday are projected to drop less than an inch, according to Bonnie Bartling, a weather specialist with the National Weather Service.
“Your main band has probably gone through,” she said.
By Saturday night, Santa Maria had logged a fraction of an inch of rain more than Santa Barbara, according to the county Public Works Department.
Lompoc saw the most rain with 0.8 inches.
The previous weekend’s precipitation totaled over an inch in many South Coast locations. This iteration could even powder the higher peaks of the mountains above Santa Barbara with some snow, Bartling said.
With the rain has come colder temperatures. According to forcasters, Saturday’s high topped out in the mid-50s.
Saturday night has a 50-50 shot of rain, with temperatures expected to fall to the low 50s.
Sunday also has a 50-percent chance of rain, primarily in the morning, with a high in the low 60s and breezes of 15 to 25 mph, according to the NWS.
“The storms have been hitting farther north,” Bartling said. “The northern areas have been getting more rain, which is a good thing. But it doesn’t help us out.”
From there, the week is expected to be increasingly sunny, with highs in the mid-60s.
Given five straight years of far-below-average precipitation, Bartling said, the county’s two wet weekends won’t make a real dent in its water needs.
— Noozhawk staff writer Sam Goldman can be reached at sgoldman@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
