Flood watch issued for SLO County, Central Coast as storm sweeps through California

The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for San Luis Obispo County and much of the Central Coast on Tuesday as a winter storm sweeps across California.

According to the alert, flooding “caused by excessive rainfall is possible” in Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties through most of this week.

In its most recent forecast, the National Weather Service said to expect periods of light rain throughout most of Tuesday before a more intense storm arrives later in the night.

“This rainfall will help prime things for the more potent storm,” the service wrote in its forecast Tuesday. “All eyes are still focused on storm No. 2 which is stronger and colder than today’s storm.”

This second storm is expected to bring an atmospheric river to southern areas of the storm, which could impact the Central Coast.

The agency said to expect periods of moderate-to-heavy rain and a chance of thunderstorms, with total rainfall estimates at 2 to 4 inches for most of the area. Across south-facing foothills and coastal slopes, between 4 and 8 inches could fall, according to the alert.

From 0.30 to 0.60 inches per hour is expected, with isolated rates of up to 1 inch per hour possible near thunderstorms and favored south-facing slopes, the alert said.

The Weather Service warned of potentially extensive roadway flooding and flooding of creeks and streams due to the rainfall.

There’s a risk of flash flooding and debris flows in recent burn scars, the agency said, especially the South Fire burn scar in Ventura County, as well as a “strong potential for rock and mudslide activity,” the alert said.

The flood watch is expected to be in effect from 10 p.m. Tuesday until 4 a.m. Thursday.

The rainstorm won’t bring significantly colder temperatures, but expect daytime temperatures in the high 50s and low 60s throughout the rest of the week for the county, the Weather Service predicted. Nighttime lows will remain in the low 50s to low 40s for the county, according to the Weather Service.

This story was originally published December 19, 2023 at 10:22 AM.

Kaytlyn Leslie

The Tribune

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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.