Flood and Wind Advisory in Effect for Santa Barbara County

By the edhat staff

The National Weather Service has issued a flood and wind advisory for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties.

The flood advisory was issued on 11:30 a.m. Tuesday and is in effect until 1:45 p.m.

At 11:25 a.m. the NWS Doppler radar and automated rain gauges indicated moderate to locally heavy rain continuing to fall. Rainfall rates of a quarter to half inch per hour have been observed with local rates up to one inch per hour.

California Highway Patrol reports indicate there has been roadway flooding on Highway 1 in Orcutt and on Highway 101 in Los Alamos, per NWS.

Some locations that will experience minor flooding are low-lying areas, poor drainage areas, and roadways. Rises in small streams and normally dry arroyos will also occur.

Street flooding in Santa Barbara (Photo: NWS)

NWS reports flooding will most likely occur in Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Lompoc, Paso Robles, Morro Bay, Pismo Beach, Santa Ynez, Montecito, Carpinteria, Cambria, and Vandenberg Space Force Base.

The NWS states most flood deaths occur in vehicles so motorists should turn around when encountering flooded roads.

Learn more at http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood.

A wind advisory is also in effect until 6:00 p.m. Tuesday in most regions of Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles counties.

South winds of 15 to 25 mph are expected with gusts up to 40 mph.

NWS reports gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects and make driving difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result.