More rain is headed into Santa Barbara County, with another atmospheric river expected to arrive Thursday afternoon.
National Weather Service meteorologist Rich Thompson said that the rainfall will gradually increase Thursday night into Friday and continue through Saturday morning, dropping an expected 2-4 inches throughout Santa Barbara County
“Definitely a good, soaking rain,” Thompson said.
Because this storm system is an atmospheric river, snow levels will be higher and there will not be any snow on local mountains, Thompson said.
The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for Santa Barbara County that goes into effect 4 p.m. Thursday through 4 a.m. Saturday.
Potential impacts include excessive runoff causing flooding of rivers, creeks, and streams, and the watch said extensive street flooding is likely.
Rain from previous storms this year have already been filling reservoirs in the county. According to the rainfall and reservoir summary from Monday, the Gibraltar Reservoir is currently 99.9% full and Lake Cachuma — which spilled in February — is now 97.1% full. The Jameson Reservoir is 100.4% full and Twitchell Reservoir is 52.1% full.
Santa Barbara County overall has received 196% of its normal rainfall in 2023.
Up to 8 inches of rain is possible for the San Luis Obispo County coast and foothills in this coming storm, and 2-4 inches are expected for Santa Barbara County, according to the NWS.
The main hazards will be flooding, including river flooding, according to the NWS.
View the FEMA flood risk map here to see areas at risk of flooding, including areas that flooded during the January storms.
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