Flood watch, wind advisory issued as storm lashes SLO County
New weather watches and advisories were issued in San Luis Obispo County on Tuesday as rain and wind continues to pummel the Central Coast.
San Luis Obispo, Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Santa Margarita and Rocky Butte all recorded more than two inches of rain over the last two days, according to the National Weather Service, with more on the way.
The severe weather took its toll on the historic Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo on Tuesday morning, taking off a piece of its facade and shutting down Monterey Street.
Heavy rains caused rockslides in multiple places along the Big Sur coast on Monday night, forcing the closure of Highway 1 from the Ragged Point Inn in San Luis Obispo County to a mile south of Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn in Monterey County, according to a post on X from Caltrans District 5.
Much of the highway reopened on Tuesday after crews cleared debris, except for a 6.8-mile segment from one mile south of the Esalen Institute to two miles north of Lucia that remained closed as Caltrans worked to remove mud from site of the Regent’s Slide, Caltrans posted on X.
The slope above the roadway at Regent’s Slide remains stable, Caltrans said in a news release Tuesday afternoon. Cleanup efforts are weather dependent and will continue during breaks in the rain, the release said.
Caltrans had no time estimate for a full reopening.
Facade of Fremont Theater in SLO damaged in storm
Monterey Street in front of the Fremont Theater was closed Tuesday morning after a chunk of the vertical marquee fell off.
The street was closed from the Katcho Achadjian County Government Center to Osos Street, marked off signs and by caution tape.
Red caution tape also closed off the area directly under the sign.
The damage didn’t seem to bother a lone seagull, which perched on the very top of the sign as city workers arrived to assess the damage.
Week of stormy weather in SLO County
The stormy weather was the second day of what looks to be a wet week, with showers predicted through Sunday, according to the National Weather Service forecast.
Tuesday’s forecast called for rain in the morning with a slight chance of thunderstorms after 10 a.m. and moving into evening, the according to the National Weather Service.
Winds started around 15 mph in the morning and were predicted to increase as the day went on, peaking at 20 to 30 mph in the evening with gusts up to 50 mph, according to the forecast.
As the storm continues, a new flood watch and wind advisory were in effect on Tuesday, replacing the flood, tornado and hail warnings from days prior.
The flood watch was set for 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon through 3 a.m. Wednesday morning, covering much of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.
“A line of heavy showers and thunderstorms will sweep across the region this afternoon into evening, bringing the risk for flash flooding, rock and mud slides, and burn-scar debris flows across the Flood Watch area,” the Weather Service said.
“After the passage of the line, scattered heavy showers and thunderstorms will continue into late tonight, prolonging the flooding risk in isolated locations,” it added. “Flooding and burn-scar debris flows are not expected for areas above the snow level, of approximately 4,500 feet elevation, where snow will fall instead of rain.”
The wind advisory was set for the same time window.
The weather service warned of gusty winds that could blow around unsecured objects, including downing tree limbs or power lines, possibly resulting in outages.
This story was originally published February 17, 2026 at 10:49 AM.