Record-setting September rain may be on the way. Here’s how much SLO County could get
It’s been a weird weather month, and we’re only halfway through.
After record-breaking high temperatures flipped to a few days of tropical weather and even some showers, San Luis Obispo County is in for another pivot, the National Weather Service says, with up to an inch of rain and lower-than-normal temperatures predicted this weekend for some Central Coast areas.
It’s quite unusual for rain to fall in San Luis Obispo County during the month of September.
The Weather Service’s data shows that historically, San Luis Obispo normally sees roughly 0.04 inches of rain over the entire month. In Paso Robles, normally just about 0.06 inches falls during the month.
Last weekend, on Sept. 10, 0.14 inches fell in San Luis Obispo and on Sept. 11, 0.07 inches fell in Paso Robles, the Weather Service’s data show. And now more is on the way.
There’s even a chance the county could see record-breaking rainfall amounts this weekend.
On Sunday, the record Sept. 18 rainfall for San Luis Obispo is 0.09 inches, while Monday’s is 0.37 inches, both set in 1959, according to the Weather Service. For this storm system, the Weather Service predicts up to 0.43 inches may fall in the city.
In Paso Robles, the record rainfall on Sunday is 0.2 inches dating back to 1963, then 0.16 on Monday, dating to 1966, according to the Weather Service, which is forecasting up to 0.34 inches in the area from the approaching storm system.
Other areas of the county also may see rain, with the heaviest amounts expected to fall in the North Coast area. Cambria could see about 0.7 inches of rain on Sunday.
The rain this weekend is expected to begin falling Sunday evening after 11 p.m. and perhaps lasting through Monday.
SLO County rain will come with cooler weather
Similarly unusual for this time of year are the cooler temperatures.
Although temperatures typically do begin to cool off in the county during this time of year, Weather Service data show that the normal high for Paso Robles still sits at around 90 to 91 degrees, with about 80 for San Luis Obispo.
This weekend, temperatures in the Paso Robles area are predicted to be in the low 80s on Saturday and then low to mid-70s on Sunday, according to the Weather Service.
San Luis Obispo can expect temperatures in the low 70s on Saturday and high 60s on Sunday.
Temperatures are likely to stay cooler throughout Monday, with warmer temperatures expected early next week.
