Storms to drop 4 to 6 inches of rain on SLO County over the next week
After a storm dumped up to 3 inches of rain in some parts of San Luis Obispo County earlier this week, more showers are on the way for SLO County.
About 4 to 6 inches of rain in the county is expected starting this weekend through Friday, March 20, with multiple days of showers expected.
“This will be much much colder experience than the last storm,” said John Lindsey, PG&E meteorologist. “The last storm was a really warm storm system. We’re going from what was pretty warm rain to cold rain.”
Forecasts show rain starting this weekend, lasting each day except Thursday, through next weekend, including up to two inches on March 21, and more rain on March 23.
Monday and Tuesday will see some of the heaviest rainfall, with greater than a 80% expected on Monday and a 70% chance on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. Monday could see up to 1.25 inches of rain, Lindsey said.
Lindsey said that the weather pattern could bring snow levels reaching elevations of 3,000 feet.
“It will be a pretty impressive weather pattern,” Lindsey said.
Start of work week in SLO County to see heavy rain
High temperatures will be in the mid- to high 50s while overnight lows will drop to the low 40s between Monday and Wednesday.
And the showers will help make up for a fairly dry year overall.
Many parts of the county remain well below average for annual rainfall totals, despite the systems that helped bring precipitation earlier this week.
On Thursday, the U.S. Drought Monitor map showed much of San Luis Obispo County has slipped back into moderate drought conditions.
As of midday Friday, the Lopez Recreational Area gauge in Arroyo Grande was at 11.13 inches for the season (starting July 1), or 51% of normal; Camp San Luis Obispo was at 8.63 inches, or 43% of normal; and a monitor in Templeton showed 7.84 inches or 44% of a typical year, according to a SLO County Public Works rainfall data website.
PG&E offers safety tips, braces for outages
PG&E issued a news release, urging safety while preparing for possible downed power lines.
“PG&E’s in-house meteorologists says the cold, wet and unsettled weather will move slowly from north to south over the weekend and into early next week,” the company stated. “As with any winter storm, wet and snowy conditions might cause trees, limbs and other debris to fall into power lines, damaging equipment and causing power outages.”
The company reminded people to not touch or moved downed power lines, because they can be “energized and dangerous,” and to call 911 immediately and notify PG&E at 800-743-5002.
During a power outage, residents should use battery-operated flashlights, and not candles, due to the risk of fire.
If anyone must use candles, they should be kept away from drapes, lampshades and small children.
“If you experience an outage, unplug or turn off all electrical appliances to avoid overloading circuits and to prevent fire hazards when power is restored,” the company stated.
Extreme wind gusts aren’t expected, and PG&E won’t be calling a power safety shutoff. If any outages occur, PG&E crews will “safely work around the clock to restore power to customers,” the company said.
This story was originally published March 13, 2020 at 1:56 PM.
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