Major rainstorms approach Santa Barbara

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

A series of winter rainstorms are expected to start sweeping into the Santa Barbara area late Thursday evening and will last through Sunday, weather officials said.
While the first storm system is expected to drop moderate rainfall, officials expect a much stronger and heavier storm to hit Friday afternoon and last into Saturday morning.

“This is going to be the most rain we’ve had for the past three years,” said Eric Boldt, a warning coordination meteorologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“We’re talking about 2 to 5, maybe 3 to 6 inches of rainfall in coast and valley areas. You get into the mountain areas and you’ll see 6 inches and up.”
Along with heavy rainfall warnings, Boldt said a high wind warning is in effect along the Central Coast and wind gusts up to 60 mph are expected for San Luis and Santa Barbara counties.
“It’s definitely one of the bigger events we’ve seen in some time, so people should be prepared for that as best they can,” he said.
Light and moderate rainfall will precede the main front of the storm on Friday morning, with heavy rain starting Friday afternoon.
Debris flows are also expected for burn areas during the high-intensity downpour, and weather officials are preparing to release flash flood warnings throughout Southern California, if necessary.
“We’re hoping that the rain will come in such a fashion that it will be beneficial to the watershed, because it’s so dry out there and it’s been dry for so long,” said Kathy Good, a spokeswoman for the Los Padres National Forest.
She said forest rangers have been making sure road culverts are capable of handling increased rainfall and closing many unsurfaced roads in the forest. She urged those who plan to visit the forest during the rainstorms to take necessary precautions and contact the nearest ranger district for current forest information.
With a huge swath of backcountry scorched by the Zaca Fire, debris and silt runoff into Lake Cachuma and Gibraltar Reservoir during this rain event seem inevitable, said Rebecca Bjork, acting water resources manager for the City of Santa Barbara.
“Of course we’re anxious about the effects of sedimentation on our reservoirs,” Bjork said. “It’s kind of a Catch-22. We want the rain for our water supplies, but we don’t want the sedimentation. … We’re kind of reconciled to the fact that we will lose capacity in Gibraltar.”
She said the full impact of rainfall this winter will not be known until the city conducts a bathymetric study of the reservoir.
Although water quality issues also surface during heavy rain events, Bjork said she is less concerned about that aspect, explaining that Lake Cachuma will remain the city’s main supply and, due to its size, the impact will be lessened.
As the major storm event passes through the Santa Barbara area on Saturday, a third storm will move into the region Saturday night through Sunday, according to a weather outlook issued by NOAA.
“At this time, it appears that [this] will be the weakest storm of the three,” according to the advisory. “Still, it could bring over an inch of additional rainfall.”
This final storm front will also bring a pocket of cold air into the area, Boldt said, significantly lowering snow levels and bringing potential snowfall to 4,000-foot elevations by Sunday afternoon.
The series of storms is also expected to bring a large westerly swell into coastal waters through Sunday, along with high surf.
“There are some pretty big swells being generated by this storm,” Boldt said. “Depending on the tides, we could have some minor coastal flooding.”
However, surfers looking for a repeat of early December’s major surfing event will likely be disappointed as this swell is also expected to create poor surfing conditions, according to surfline.com.
City officials urged the public to turn off automatic sprinkler timers to conserve water during the storms. They also suggested installing a rain sensor and visiting www.santabarbaraca.gov/water or calling 564-5460 for tips on saving water.