Rain and wind slam county, but storm results in no major damage
Heavy runoff from Tuesday morning’s rain goes down State Street in downtown Santa Barbara. By noon, the rain was over, and the sky was mostly blue again.
Lasting from Monday night into Tuesday morning, a storm slammed Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties with heavy rain and fast wind.
Nearly 8 inches of rain was reported on the San Marcos Pass.
Elsewhere, rain varied from 2 inches in Santa Barbara and Goleta to 3 inches in Lompoc and Solvang.
But there were no major debris flows and no major damage in Santa Barbara County, including the Alisal Fire burn scar.
The storm ended by noon Tuesday.
The rain reportedly didn’t cause major flooding. But the conditions, which included winds varying from 6 to 19 mph Tuesday in Santa Barbara, did set the stage for obstructions on roads and traffic collisions. For example, there were boulders on Cold Springs Road in Montecito.
In the 200 block of Shaw Road in Los Alamos, a 100-foot tree fell during the heavy rain and high winds Monday night into a detached garage and a 200-foot travel trailer. The Santa Barbara County Fire Department responded. Capt. Daniel Bertucelli, the department’s public information officer, reported there were no injuries.
Traffic collisions were reported early Tuesday morning on Highway 101 in Santa Maria, Carpinteria and Ventura.
On Monday, Santa Barbara County issued an evacuation order for the areas in and surrounding the Alisal Fire burn scar. An evacuation center was set up at Santa Barbara City College’s Wake Center on Turnpike Road.
Around 2 p.m. Tuesday, the evacuation order was lifted, but residents were cautioned to drive carefully because of debris and flooded roads. Refugio Road was reopened only for residents.
Overall, the county survived the storm, and it made some ducks happy in Carpinteria, where a sudden pond developed Tuesday morning in a depression in the grass at Carpinteria State Beach Park.
The National Weather Service said the rain will be back Thursday but noted the storm would be a weak one.
The forecast calls for a dry weekend.
While the rain stopped by Tuesday afternoon, the cold didn’t.
Highs were in the mid or upper 50s throughout Santa Barbara County, and lows were expected to dip into the low 40s overnight. Already, by 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, the temperature was in the upper 40s in Santa Barbara and Santa Maria.
According to the weather service, the high in Santa Barbara will be 59 today, followed by highs in the low 60s through Saturday. It’s a similar story elsewhere in the county, although Santa Ynez apparently will be a little warmer with a high near 64 on Saturday.
email: dmason@newspress.com
