Rainstorm and high winds are headed to SLO County. Here’s the forecast
Break out your umbrellas, San Luis Obispo County — the weather forecast finally calls for spring showers this weekend.
For more than six weeks, the county has seen a remarkable stretch of unseasonably hot and sunny weather, including record temperatures in March.
“The Central Coast hasn’t seen significant rainfall since February 19,” meteorologist John Lindsey said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
However, he noted, “That dry stretch is about to end.”
Starting on Friday, this week’s balmy spring weather will be replaced with clouds and rain.
An incoming rainstorm will be propelled by an upper-level, low-pressure system moving southeast toward the Central Coast, Lindsey said, with high winds that could escalate to gale force levels at 25 to 38 mph by Sunday.
The winds will result in 5- to- 7-foot westerly seas on Saturday, the first day of the recreational ocean salmon fishing season.
Snow could fall at elevations of 5,500 feet, and the storm could drop a total of 0.75 and 1.25 inches of rain, with higher amounts in the Santa Lucia and coastal mountains, Lindsey said.
San Luis Obispo County should expect the heaviest rain and wind on Sunday, when the storm track is directly over area, he said.
What’s in the weather forecast?
Before the storm arrives, San Luis Obispo can expect partly sunny skies on Thursday with a high near 75 degrees and “light and variable wind” of 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon, according to the weather service.
Meanwhile, Paso Robles is forecast to receive patchy fog before 11 a.m., followed by mostly cloudy skies in the afternoon with a high near 75 degrees.
Morro Bay can expect mostly cloudy skies with a high near 66 degrees on Thursday with 5 to 10 mph winds.
On Friday, San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles have a 60% chance of rain with possible thunderstorms after 11 a.m. Both cities should each expect less than a tenth of an inch of rain that day, with higher amounts possible if there’s a thunderstorm.
Meanwhile, Morro Bay has a 70% chance of rain after 11 a.m. with the potential for thunderstorms. The coastal city could receive between a tenth and quarter of an inch of rain, the weather service said.
On Saturday, San Luis Obispo has a 70% chance of rain after 11 a.m. with the potential for thunderstorms.
Paso Robles has a 60% chance of rain after 11 a.m. on Saturday, while Morro Bay has a 70% chance of rain with thunderstorms possible after 11 a.m., the weather service said.
On Sunday, San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles and Morro Bay can expect partly cloudy skies with rain likely.
The rain should be gone by Monday, with the forecast calling for mostly sunny skies in San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles and Morro Bay.
