Most areas of Santa Barbara County received more than a half-inch of rain overnight Thursday, making way for mostly sunny skies into the weekend and a warming trend early next week.
Rain gauges throughout the Central Coast received between a third to two-thirds of an inch before daybreak Friday as the second of two storms rolled through the area this week, said meteorologist Todd Hall of the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
The weather service had predicted the overnight storm would notch another quarter to half-inch of rain. An earlier storm Tuesday night dropped less than a quarter-inch in the area.
Santa Barbara recorded 0.64 of an inch Thursday night, and Goleta recorded 0.68. Precipitation totals in the foothills were nearly an inch in some areas.
Heavy rain falling Thursday night could have been a factor in an accident in which a 32-year-old Santa Barbara man was struck by a car while attempting to cross Hollister Avenue outside a crosswalk, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Salvador Banda was in intensive care Friday with major injuries suffered when he was struck by a Subaru wagon driven by 27-year-old Laura Gilles, also of Santa Barbara. The CHP is still investigating the incident.
Weekly rain totals include 0.69 in Goleta, 0.67 in Santa Maria, 0.64 for Santa Barbara and 0.48 in Lompoc. Buellton and Solvang recorded the highest week totals at just over an inch and 0.72, respectively.
“A little bit more than we expected,” Hall said. “It all pretty much occurred overnight.
“We have some gusty winds across the area, but nothing really show-stopping,” he added, referencing the pressure system’s Friday exodus. “So far, the strongest gusts we’ve seen has only been in the 35 mph range.”
Wind was expected to subside by Saturday, bringing sunshine and high temperatures in the mid-60s as high pressure builds behind the system and creates a warming trend, Hall said.
Highs are expected to return to the low 70s by Monday and Tuesday — above the normal 65 degrees for this time of year — and residents won’t see rain again until late next week, if then, he said.
“We’re going to see dry conditions redevelop,” he said. “It’ll be nice and warm.”
» Click here for the complete National Weather Service forecast.
» Click here for the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Services. Click here to sign up for the OES’ messaging service. Connect with the OES on Facebook.
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
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