After a fast start to the rain season, much of California has been waiting for more than a month for significant activity. That wait is over. A storm system will drop into the Central Coast Thursday. It looks to be a splash and dash system storm, there are no advisories for it.
For the Central Coast, it will likely only produce .10-.30" of rain with perhaps a little more in the higher elevations of the Santa Lucia range. As for timing, the storm could produce showers overnight but most of the main band following a cold front will move north to south thru the area from 8a to about noon before moving into Southern California.
It will be windy after the front moves thru the area as high pressure will temporarily build in for the weekend.
Thursday afternoon NW winds of 15-25mph are likely, the winds will be northerly for Thursday night into Friday but 15-25mph potential is still there. Winds will turn northeast from Friday night setting up the weekend to have a cold start in the interior valleys with some freezing mornings but highs thru the area should recover into the 50s and 60s for the most part.
The Monday and Tuesday storm looks much stronger with .75-3+" of rain possible.
Winds will turn and come from the south priming the pump for much higher rainfall. Southerly winds could be 15-30+ mph prior to the rain and be windy during the long-lasting rain event potentially covering both Sunday and Monday. This will also be a huge system for the mountains of California with feet of snow also likely. Stay with KSBY and use the Microclimate weather app for the latest forecast, watches, warnings and advisories during these events.
The weather pattern looks generally unsettled after the big storm but no big direct hits in my forecast at this time. Right now I'd say a few more splash and dash events into Christmas but definitely not as mild as we have been for the last few weeks.
