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Some precipitation descends as Santa Barbara County moves into fall-like weather KENNETH SONG/NEWS-PRESSThe Santa Barbara Courthouse is seen through a car window after a short burst of rain hit downtown Santa Barbara on Wednesday.
Clouds prevailed, and the suspense quietly grew.
Then it happened, on the afternoon of an October day that looked and felt more like June gloom.
A burst of rain.
It wasn’t a lot. The National Weather Service reported a mere 0.03 inch of rain fell Wednesday in Goleta, where it rained for up to 15 minutes with some lingering drizzle afterward. One resident told the News-Press she became aware of the precipitation when she heard the shrieking of kids and teenagers caught in the rain outside her home.
The burst of precipitation was much shorter in Santa Barbara. And the weather service didn’t report any measurable amount of rain anywhere else in the county.
But what’s certain is the weather is getting cooler, and the National Weather Service says that trend will continue.
Finally, it’s beginning to feel like fall. (Technically, fall started Sept. 22, but until recently, it’s felt more like a late summer.)
“A stubborn area of low pressure aloft will likely linger over the region through the remainder of the week, and keep a showery and unsettled weather pattern in place,” the weather service said Wednesday. “Night through morning low clouds and fog are likely to continue through the week. A cooler weather pattern is expected over the weekend and into early next week.”
The weather service predicted partly cloudy conditions today in Santa Barbara County, with highs in the mid-70s in the Santa Barbara area and 70 in Lompoc and Santa Maria. Apparently it’s still summer, at least part of the time, in Santa Ynez, where today’s high is expected to be 82. And a high of 86 is forecast for Cuyama.
But the lows tell another story. Lows in the mid 50s are expected throughout the county, except for the more moderate Santa Barbara/Goleta area, where the weather service forecasts lows in the lower 60s.
The National Weather Service predicts partly cloudy skies and similar temperatures on Friday, followed by mostly cloudy skies on Saturday and a dip in temperatures. The forecasted high for Santa Barbara on Saturday is 69. In Santa Maria, temperatures aren’t expected to exceed 68 Saturday, and things will be cooler in Santa Ynez, with a predicted high of 76.
On Wednesday, the rain came and went. Ventura saw 0.03 inch of rain; Oxnard, 0.05 inch; and Camarillo, 0.06. Up north, no measurable rain was reported in San Luis Obispo County, and not much was reported in Los Angeles County.
email: dmason@newspress.com
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