Tonight’s storm

8:45 pm – finally, the rain has arrived, but the high winds have not. Still pretty quiet.

7:45 pm – Paso Robles is reporting high winds and rain. Fresno is reporting the same, but up here, it is quiet – no wind, and the drizzle is so minimal, I had to open the door and shine a flashlight to make sure anything was happening.

Here’s the current water vapor map. Thanks, Dave!

NWS Radar:

4:00 pm – by 4 am, predictions are for 1 and 1/2 to 2 inches of rain in the coastal mountains. Rain started in King City just over 15 mins. ago. Looks like it is raining in Big Sur, too! BTW, for those of you keeping track, I forgot to post my rain totals for Christmas, which was 1.25, bringing the season total up to 20 inches.

3:30 pm – the rain has not yet come to this part of the coast, although the clouds are heavy and ominous. Paso Robles reports that a light rain has already started there, about 15 mins ago.

AS OF 2:15 PM PST TUESDAY…THE MAIN FOCUS IS ON THE UPCOMING STORMY WEATHER LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

AN ASSOCIATED VERY STRONG COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO THE DISTRICT TONIGHT. WITH VERY STRONG ISENTROPIC LIFT…RAIN WILL BE HEAVY AT TIMES THIS EVENING… STARTING IN THE NORTH BAY…MOVING SOUTH OVERNIGHT.

WIND WILL ALSO BE AN ISSUE. 925 MB WINDS ARE FORECAST TO BE 50 KT AHEAD AND WITH THE FRONT. FALLING TREES AND DOWNED POWER LINES ARE LIKELY ACROSS THE DISTRICT TONIGHT. CURRENTLY THERE IS A WIND ADVISORY FOR THE ENTIRE DISTRICT FOR TONIGHT.

TEMPS WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY COLDER AFTER THE FRONT PASSES BY WED MORNING. SHOWERS WILL TAPER OFF DURING THE MORNING HOURS. THERE COULD BE A LITTLE SNOW MIXED IN IN THE HIGHER HILLS. WITH STRONG COLD AIR ADVECTION AND A TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENT WINDS WILL REMAIN GUSTY AT TIMES.

A WEAK WAVE DROPPING DOWN FROM THE NORTH WILL BRING A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS TO THE DISTRICT ON THURSDAY. WITH THE COLD AIR…SNOW SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE IN THE HILLS.