Edhat Staff
The National Weather Service has issued an Urban and Small Stream Flood Advisory for Santa Barbara County, including the recent wildfire burn areas. The storm is still predicted to be below debris flow thresholds. No evacuations are required. Residents near creeks and water channels should be alert and move to high ground if at anytime they feel threatened.
Below is the advisory from the National Weather Service:
The National Weather Service in OXNARD has issued a Urban and Small Stream Flood Advisory for…
Santa Barbara County in southwestern California…
San Luis Obispo County in southwestern California…
Including the Thomas, Whittier, and Alamo burn areas.
* Until 945 PM PST
* At 639 PM PST, Doppler radar indicated a band of moderate to locally heavy rain across western Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, which is expected to spread eastward across both
counties. Rainfall rates between 0.20 and 0.40 inches per hour can be expected across portions of the advisory area this evening, with brief heavy downpours possible.
* Urban roadway flooding can be expected across the advisory area, including portions of Highways 101, 154, and 192. In addition, minor mud and debris flows will be possible across the Thomas,
Whittier, and Alamo burn areas.
* Some locations that could experience flooding include…Thomas, Whittier, and Alamo burn areas…Lompoc, Gaviota, Vandenberg, Goleta, Santa Barbara, Solvang, Montecito, and Carpinteria.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
Turn around, don’t drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles.
A Flood Advisory means river or stream flows are elevated, or ponding of water in urban or other areas is occurring or is imminent.
A storm system is expected to bring showers to Santa Barbara County beginning in the afternoon Saturday, March 10 and continuing into Sunday.
Predictions for the storm have not changed over the past 24 hours. No evacuations are anticipated at this time.
“While all indication is that this storm will not meet the thresholds for debris flow, we are now monitoring a storm for the later part of next week,” said Rob Lewin, Director of the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management.
The County of Santa Barbara thanks the community for staying alert and connected. To register to receive emergency alerts through the countywide Aware and Prepare system and to access storm readiness information, please visit the Ready Santa Barbara County website at http://ReadySBC.org/.
At present, the National Weather Service is reporting an expected maximum rainfall of approximately 0.8 to 1.6 inches total in foothills and mountains with intensity levels expected to be 0.2 to 0.4 inches per hour. There is a 20 percent chance that the intensity level will exceed the threshold of a half-inch of rain per hour that triggers debris flows. No thunderstorms are expected during the storm.
Emergency officials are actively monitoring the storm and will take the steps necessary to inform the public if the storm increases in intensity. Residents and businesses are asked to monitor weather reports and emergency announcements. For weather updates, visit www.weather.gov and enter a city or zip code for local forecasts.
Persons living in or near burn areas are encouraged to have emergency kits and evacuation plans ready in advance. For storm readiness tips, visit www.ReadySBC.org.
Storm readiness information is also available in Spanish at www.ReadySBC.org/es.
The County, emergency agencies and the National Weather Service continue to monitor a storm system heading toward Santa Barbara County. Showers are expected in the region beginning Saturday, March 10 late afternoon into Sunday.
At this time, the National Weather Service is reporting an expected maximum rainfall of approximately 0.25 to 0.75 inches total with intensity levels expected of 0.2 to 0.35 inches per hour. This amount is slightly below the threshold of 0.5 inches of rain per hour that activates evacuations warnings and orders near burn areas.
No evacuations are anticipated at this time. Emergency officials are actively monitoring the storm and will take the steps necessary to inform the public if the storm increases in intensity. Residents and businesses must monitor weather reports and emergency announcements. Local officials will provide periodic updates as the storm system develops.
For storm readiness information or to register to receive emergency alerts through the countywide Aware and Prepare system, please visit www.ReadySBC.org.
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