It was a soggy morning Monday after Sunday’s storm hammered Santa Barbara County with hours of often-heavy rainfall and gusty winds.
The brunt of the storm shifted east overnight to Ventura and Los Angeles counties, and Santa Barbara County officials canceled evacuation orders as of noon Monday.
They cautioned residents that some roads and trails may be closed because of rock falls, flooding, fallen trees or other storm impacts.
National Weather Service officials have a Flood Watch in effect through 4 p.m. Tuesday, but the Flash Flood Warning expired at midnight.
Even though the storm dropped less rain than was projected for southern Santa Barbara County, it was enough to produce widespread reports of flooding, said NWS meteorologist Ryan Kittell on Monday morning.
Santa Barbara County will see on-and-off again showers for the next few days, Kittell said.
The NWS expects 1-2 inches more of rain for coastal and valley areas, and 2-4 inches in mountain and foothill areas through Wednesday. There’s a 20% chance of thunderstorms, which could produce isolated heavy rainfall, the NWS says.
A High Surf Advisory is in effect Monday for local beaches, with rip currents and large breaking waves expected.
The Sunday storm set a daily rainfall record of 2.39 inches at the Santa Barbara Airport, which had to close due to flooded runways. It reopened at 1 p.m. Monday.
Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency for Santa Barbara County and seven other counties on Sunday.
County Executive Officer Mona Miyasato proclaimed a local emergency Sunday and said crews are still assessing damage to public infrastructure.
“Proclaiming a local state of emergency is an essential step for local governments dealing with significant incidents. It ensures that all county resources are available for the storm response efforts and supporting activities,” the county noted.
Most schools in the county will reopen on Tuesday, after closing Monday for the storm, the County Education Office said. Families should check with their individual schools on their reopening status since they may still be assessing damage, SBCEO spokeswoman Camie Barnwell said.
Santa Barbara City College also planned to welcome students back to campus Tuesday. UC Santa Barbara had kept campus open and urged people to move classes online and work from home Monday as much as possible. Normal campus operations would start Tuesday, UCSB Chancellor Henry Yang’s office said.
County Flood Control Update
Although there were scattered minor problems throughout Santa Barbara County, local flood-control facilities fared well through the storm, according to Walter Rubalcava, the county’s deputy director of water resources.
“Overall, we received less rain than expected, which was good,” Rubalcava told Noozhawk on Monday.
There was some overtopping of creeks in Goleta and Santa Barbara, and at a few other locations, but no serious flooding was reported, he said.
“We did some mitigation work (ahead of the storm) that helped us out a lot,” Rubalcava said, referencing K-rail barriers that were placed along Atascadero and Hospital creeks in Goleta to help protect nearby properties.
The debris basins scattered along South Coast creeks performed well, Rubalcava said.
The county Public Works Department expects to be doing debris and silt removal from some basins and creeks, he added, noting that county personnel were still assessing the impacts.
Rubalcava estimated that between prep work and and post-storm clean-up, the county’s costs related to the storm will be about $5 million.
Upstream on the Santa Ynez River, Santa Barbara’s Gibraltar Reservoir was completely full and so was Montecito Water District’s Jameson Reservoir, according to County Water Resources.
Rainfall Totals
Some of the highest two-day totals for rainfall from the NWS Los Angeles area included 10.8 inches in Topanga (Los Angeles County) and 8.88 inches at El Deseo in Santa Barbara County.
As of 10 a.m. Monday, two-day rainfall totals for Santa Barbara County areas included:
- 3.07 inches in Lompoc
- 2.29 inches in Buellton
- 3.25 inches at Point Conception
- 1.4 inches at Vandenberg Space Force Base
- 1.29 inches in Guadalupe
- 0.95 inches in Santa Maria
- 0.4 inches in Cuyama
- 1.91 inches in Los Alamos
- 5.19 inches on San Marcos Pass
- 5.65 inches at Gibraltar Dam
- 5.24 inches at Bradbury Dam (Lake Cachuma)
- 4.16 inches in Solvang
- 2.48 inches in Los Olivos
- 3.94 inches in the Montecito Hills (and more in the mountains above)
- 3.88 inches in Santa Barbara
- 3.74 inches in Goleta
- 2.51 inches on the Gaviota Coast
- 1.84 inches in Carpinteria
Lake Cachuma was up to 97.8% capacity Monday morning as the reservoir levels came within a couple feet of spilling over Bradbury Dam. Reservoir operators have been releasing water from the lake for several days in anticipation of the storm.
Santa Barbara County has received 128% of its “normal to date” rainfall.
Evacuations, Water Rescues, Downed Trees
On Sunday afternoon, police evacuated homes near Mission Creek in Santa Barbara, at Haley and Cota streets, as rising waters threatened homes.
There was a water rescue of a person in a vehicle in Nipomo, in southern San Luis Obispo County, and a hoist rescue in Ventura of someone from the riverbed.
An evacuation order for several South Coast communities near creeks remained in effect Monday morning due to the flooding risks from this storm.
Fallen trees damaged several homes and vehicles and caused widespread road closures due to the combination of wet ground and high winds.
Santa Barbara city officials had areas barricaded off Monday as teams evaluated storm damage.
“For your safety and ours, please respect barriers and signs indicating restricted access. Patience is crucial for a thorough assessment,” the City Fire Department said in a social media post.
Highway Closures
There were road and highway closures countywide from overflowing rivers, landslides and fallen trees on Sunday, and some were still in effect Monday morning.
Caltrans reopened sections of Highway 1 Monday morning, District 5 officials said.
Highway 135 was closed from East Clark Avenue in Orcutt to Main Street in Los Alamos because of fallen trees blocking the roadway.
Check back with Noozhawk for updates to this story.
