Toasty weather arrived Tuesday in Santa Barbara County, with gusty winds and hot temperatures expected to continue in areas of the region, according to the National Weather Service.
The heat wave was “not quite warming up as much along the South Coast of Santa Barbara County, but we’ll see more of that later this afternoon and evening as the sundowners kick in,” the NWS said in its forecast discussion Tuesday.
Several areas along Santa Barbara County’s South Coast were under consideration for possible public safety power shutoffs from Southern California Edison Co. because of anticipated weather-related reasons.
The utility company said outages were possible for locations along the South Coast, affecting more than 5,000 customers in Santa Barbara County.
As of about 3 p.m. Tuesday, no shutoffs from SCE were implemented in areas on the South Coast. Potential public safety power shutoffs were likely to continue until 9 p.m. Tuesday, according to the SCE website.
“If your power has been shut off, we will restore power as soon as the weather conditions permit, and crews have inspected the power lines to confirm it is safe to restore power,” the SCE stated.
Click here for SCE’s potential outage map.
Edison customers can update their contact information and receive outage alerts at sce.com/wildfire/psps-alerts or by calling 1.800.655.4555.
Community resource centers for affected customers will be open until 10 p.m. Tuesday, according to the county Office of Emergency Management. They’ll be located at the Independent Living Resource Center at 423 W. Victoria St. in Santa Barbara and the Residence Inn at 6350 Hollister Ave. in Goleta. The centers are available to support customers during public safety power shutoffs, the SCE website stated.
As of about 2:40 p.m. Tuesday, no significant heat-related incidents were reported to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, according to Capt. Daniel Bertucelli.
Dangerously hot conditions prompted the NWS to issue an Excessive Heat Watch on the South Coast, which was to be in effect until 9 p.m. Tuesday.
“Extreme heat will significantly increase the potential for heat-related illnesses, particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities,” the NWS said.
A Red Flag Warning for “critical fire weather conditions” was issued for southern Santa Barbara County areas. It was to be in effect through 6 a.m. Wednesday.
“Sundowner winds will kick in before sunset with north gusts of 40 to 50 mph for foothills above Santa Barbara and Montecito,” according to Tuesday’s warning. “Temperatures will remain well into the 90s through early tonight with humidity dropping to 8% to 15% after dark, then slight improvement arriving by sunrise Wednesday morning.”
Forecasters were calling for north winds of 20 to 35 mph, with gusts up to 50 mph Tuesday evening.
Isolated gusts as high as 60 mph were possible, with the NWS warning that the strongest winds were forecast below passes and canyons in the Santa Ynez Mountain range.
Temperature highs in the 90s were expected at lower elevations and up to 105 degrees in the Santa Ynez Mountain range.
Authorities said Tuesday that temperatures could reach in the 90s “for windier foothills above Santa Barbara and Montecito through early tonight.”
“If fire ignition occurs, conditions are possible for extreme fire behavior which would threaten life and property,” according to the NWS.
A combination of strong winds and low relative humidity can contribute to the risk of extreme fire behavior, the weather service said.
“Use extreme caution with potential fire ignition sources,” the NWS notice stated.
Daytime temperatures Wednesday could rise as high as 100 degrees along the South Coast, with cooler conditions in the lower to mid-70s at the beaches.
Areas of north winds between 15 and 25 mph were expected Wednesday morning.
Click here for the latest forecast from the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
The county Office of Emergency Management sends out power shutoff notifications and other information through its Aware and Prepare Alerts and ReadySBC.org website.
On Tuesday, Los Padres National Forest announced 100% containment of the 188-acre Casitas Fire, which started Monday afternoon near the Lake Casitas Recreation Area in western Ventura County.
The #CasitasFire is now 100 percent contained after breaking out yesterday afternoon along Hwy. 150 near Lake Casitas. Remember to secure all chains when towing & make sure your vehicle is in good operating condition. Let’s put an end to accidental fire starts! #OneLessSpark pic.twitter.com/zjHHcGnjOd
— Los Padres NF (@LosPadresNF) June 15, 2021
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
