Cool weather, high tides and a chance of showers are in Santa Barbara County’s forecast this weekend as a tropical storm’s impacts bring an end to the heat wave.
Tropical Storm Rachel’s center will “remain well south of Los Angeles,” around San Diego and Baja California, but some peripheral impacts will make it to the Central Coast, meteorologist Ariel Cohen said.
Cohen, with the Oxnard office of the National Weather Service, said Friday that Santa Barbara County could have some coastal flooding from high tides and light showers this weekend.
Temperatures will significantly drop: Santa Barbara is expected to have high temperatures in the low-70s this weekend and around 65 degrees on Monday, after more than a week of 90s weather.
Similarly, the Santa Ynez Valley will get a break from triple-digit heat and have daytime temperatures in the 70s this weekend, and the high 60s on Monday.
The Santa Maria and Lompoc valley communities will have daytime temperatures in the 60s from Saturday through Monday.
No flooding is expected from this weekend’s rainfall, but the high surf could cause some ocean flooding and erosion along the coast, he said.
A beach hazards statement is in effect from Saturday morning through Monday afternoon for all of Santa Barbara County. That means possible coastal flooding, dangerous rip currents that can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea, and high tides of 6.6 to 7.2 feet each morning and evening, according to the National Weather Service.
There could be major coastal flooding and damage from the high surf impacts farther south, including in Malibu and Long Beach, Cohen said.
There is a chance of light-to-moderate rainfall in Santa Barbara County Saturday night through Monday, with small amounts expected.
“Many areas could be quite dry,” Cohen noted.
However, even small amounts of rain represent a “big change from the long duration heat event,” he said. People should expect traffic delays in the case of wet roads, he added.
In Santa Barbara, high tide times are 9:30-10:30 a.m. through the weekend, with a large, secondary high tide each night.
