Cooler-than-normal temperatures the next couple days in Santa Barbara and on the Central Coast are expected to continue into the weekend, when a chance of rain showers has been added to the forecast.
Freeze warnings were issued Wednesday for parts of Santa Barbara County, especially inland areas, beginning early Thursday and continuing through 10 a.m. Friday, said Bonnie Bartling, a weather specialist with the National Weather Service Office in Oxnard.
The South Coast also was under a frost advisory — from midnight Wednesday through 9 a.m. Thursday, Bartling added.
Overnight lows Wednesday into Thursday were expected to be in the upper 20s or mid-30s, leading to some frost. Highs Thursday should be in the mid 50s to 60s.
Frost could linger into early Friday — from Thursday night’s low temperature of 30 degrees — when similar daytime highs are expected before a quick-moving storm system threatens the area with rain showers, Bartling said.
“You have two different stories here,” she said. “The temperatures are going to plummet. The change in the weather would be Friday night, probably after midnight.”
Bartling said the best chance for falling raindrops would be early Saturday morning, since the storm system should be out of the area by afternoon, making way for partly cloudy skies.
The rest of the weekend was forecast to be cool, clear and dry, with daily temperatures in the high 50s or close to 60.
Bartling said temperatures should return to normal for this time of year — mid-60s or 70 during the daytime and 40s overnight — by the middle of next week.
“We’ve got to have our little cold snaps,” she said. “We’re very spoiled.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at gpotthoff@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.