Up to 7 inches of rain and Hwy. 101 flooded: Here’s how much fell around SLO County

Highway 101 under the Santa Rosa Street overpass in San Luis Obispo looked more like a lake than a highway through much of Thursday, thanks to a sudden flood in the area on the second day of a winter storm that brought 2 to 7 inches of rain to the county.

Throughout the day, rain pummeled the area, dropping several inches across the region, causing traffic delays as holiday travelers attempted to navigate the county’s wet-slicked and often partially flooded roads.

In San Luis Obispo, the Highway 101 closure blocked traffic for hours on both sides of the ramp, with stand-still traffic jams in both directions.

Meanwhile through the rest of the county, small reports of flooding and downed trees also caused jams, like Thursday evening when a Highway 101 ramp in Nipomo partially flooded.

As of Friday morning, however, the roads have been mostly cleared and reopened.

Highway 101 in San Luis Obispo is fully open, according to Caltrans, but some ramps in the area remained closed while work continues on assessing the drain backup.

The rain paused on Friday before another storm system moves into the region on Christmas Day.

That storm will bring between half an inch and 1.25 inches of rain, according to meteorologist John Lindsey, and could potentially dust some of SLO County’s higher-elevation mountains with snow.

High temperatures on Christmas will be in the mid-50s.

How much rain fell across San Luis Obispo County?

Through the three days of storm, much of San Luis Obispo saw several inches of rainfall, with totals ranging between just under 2 inches to upwards of 4 inches.

The largest amount of rain was in Rocky Butte, which recorded 7.52 inches as of Friday morning.

Here’s how much rain your area received as of Friday at 1 p.m

• Arroyo Grande: 2 inches
• Atascadero: 1.84 inches
• Atascadero, Paradise Valley: 4.09 inches
• Avila Beach: 2.25 inches
• Baywood Park: 2.46 inches
• Cal Poly: 3.39 inches
• Cambria: 3.56 inches
• Cambria at Walter Ranch: 6.15 inches
• Camp San Luis: 2.84 inches
• Creston: 1.8 inches
• Davis Peak: 3.52 inches
• Diablo Canyon: 3.53 inches
• Hog Canyon: 2.57 inches
• Lopez Dam: 2.93 inches
• Lopez Lake Upper: 4.54 inches
• Los Berros: 3.08 inches
• Los Osos: 2.44 inches
• Morro Bay Canet: 2.50 inches
• Morro Toro: 4.68 inches
• Nipomo East: 2.64 inches
• Nipomo South: 1.8 inches
• Oceano: 2 inches
• Pismo Beach: 2.25 inches
• Paso Robles Airport: 1.89 inches
• Point San Luis Lighthouse: 2.25 inches
• Rocky Butte: 7.52 inches
• Salinas Dam (Santa Margarita Lake): 3.16 inches
• Santa Margarita: 2.32 inches
• San Luis Obispo County Airport: 2.16 inches
• San Luis Obispo Reservoir: 3.83 inches
• San Luis Obispo, Irish Hills: 4.6 inches
• San Simeon: 2.96 inches
• Shandon: 1.69 inches
• Shell Beach: 2.75 inches
• Templeton: 2.56 inches

This story was originally published December 24, 2021 at 1:09 PM with the headline "Up to 7 inches of rain and Hwy. 101 flooded: Here’s how much fell around SLO County."

Kaytlyn Leslie

The Tribune

805-781-7928 (voicemails only)

Kaytlyn Leslie writes about business and development for The San Luis Obispo Tribune. Hailing from Nipomo, she also covers city governments and happenings in San Luis Obispo. She joined The Tribune in 2013 after graduating from Cal Poly with her journalism degree.