The rain storm that hit the area soaked much of the region with rain reports ranging from less than an inch to more than 8" in some high mountain locations. The good news is that this was a significant system and it did boost the lake levels significantly. Take a look, this graphic shows the current percentage of capacity, the week-to-week percentage change, AND the elevation change:
(More reports including the county reports available on my social media: Facebook.com/TVDaveHovde or @TVDave on Twitter)
The median was 1-2.5" with some places higher, there were also notable places like the Santa Maria Valley that hugged the lower end of the scale. In general, the system arrived on time and delivered the heavy rain we expected along with the high winds. The combination proved to be powerful, knocking out power to many.
So what is next? The system is kicking out of CA but will plague the rest of the country with a major winter snowstorm, and a severe weather outbreak in the southern U.S.
The storm will scrape its way across the U.S. into the coming weekend.
Locally, some areas of low clouds in wind-sheltered valleys are possible, it generally always is after rain events in winter. Otherwise variable clouds for the rest of the week with cool to cold overnight lows with highs in the 50s to about 60.
Not a lot of day-to-day change, other than the overnight lows moderate a bit. Tonight there is a frost advisory for some of the valleys in Santa Barbara county, looks like a marginal risk since the projected lows are in the mid-30s but this area hasn't seen much frost and it is too close and ag-centered not to be cautious.
The Climate Prediction Center has flipped about the extended outlook going with a drier than average 6-10 day outlook (and cooler than average), the 8-14 day flips temps back to above average on the Central Coast but still keeps the precip outlook drier than average.
