Tuesday and 72 Hours of Rain

Good Tuesday morning,

Jack could not sleep, so I was up before 3 am...Thinking about the weather of course.....

It is going to start a busy week of rain. This day has arrived. Regardless of what you call this. Pineapple Express, atmospheric river, we are going to see the start of a prolong rain event. 72 hours long.

Do you remember Feb of 2017 when Lake Cachuma went up 35% in one day, and Montecito got 10 inches of rain? Well I am sure you all do... this is going to be one of those events.

Take a look at the satellite. It shows the system spinning and pumping the moisture right at us.

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/nepac/h5-loop-ft.html

Last year, we did get through a storm like this, but we did not have the fire and the hills stripped. This will really test our creeks and hillside.

The AR is aimed right at us, regardless of where it takes a direct hit. 60 miles in either direction, will see the heavy rain. Basically, there is no avoiding this system for SLO to Ventura . If this takes a direct hit on SB, the totals will climb.

I had numerous calls yesterday from friends in Montecito, asking if they should leave.

For me, if I lived there I would!!! The rain will not come as fast as the Jan 9th storm, but we will receive 3 times the rain over a 72 hour period. If a rock blocks a creek, the long period of rain will mess with the normal flow, and there will be no way to stop it.

Ok, that’s enough of that. You know what I would do....

Rain will start out today on the lighter side. Rain can show up as soon as noon. It will feel like a typical storm, but it will pick up in intensity and rain for days all the way through Thursday. The heaviest rain will come Wednesday night into Thursday. That will be the biggest test time.

How much rain? They are still talking 2 to 5 inches coastal and 5 to 10 mountains.

Santa Barbara will get hit the hardest, because of our mountains. Expect Montecito will receive the most, just like last year...

Ok, you are out of time to prepare. It’s show time... we will just need to watch it now.

For the record, this is setting up to be the biggest March storm in 30 years ...

We will let you know what’s up as the hours and days roll on...