Region hit by rain, wind and lightning as 12th atmospheric river since December hits state

The first full day of spring brought more winter-like weather Tuesday as a 12th atmospheric river brought rain, wind gusts and some lightning to the area.

Much of northern Santa Barbara County was hit with another inch of rain in a 24-hour period ending Tuesday evening.

The National Weather Service's Oxnard office said periods of "moderate to heavy rain, thunderstorms and mountain snow" will continue through Wednesday as the strong storm moves over the region. Strong and potentially damaging winds are possible as well, the weather service said. Generally dry and cool conditions are then expected Thursday through Monday.

The storm focused most of its energy on central and southern parts of the state, bringing threats of heavy runoff and mountain snowfall that forecasters said will be measured in feet.

In northern Santa Barbara County, Orcutt received 1.02 inches of rain in the 24-hour window that ended at 5 p.m. Tuesday. The meter at the Santa Maria Public Works office read just 0.52 inches. Guadalupe received 0.53 inches in that period.

The meter at Lompoc City Hall read 1.09 inches at 5 p.m. Tuesday. The Celite station south of Lompoc received 1.87 inches of rain Tuesday. Solvang and Santa Ynez each received over an inch of rain.

Scott Safechuck, a spokesman for the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, said win combined with soil saturation increased 911 calls for downed powerlines and trees Tuesday.

A large swath of Orcutt was without power for an extended period of time due to a downed line near Lakeview Junior High and an issue with equipment near the Santa Maria Public Airport. A power outage was reported at 1:15 p.m. and power was restored for many of the affected customers just after 4:30 p.m. The outage affected more than 3,600 customers in the area.

A severe windstorm located over the ocean blasted Santa Cruz County with wind gusts up to 80 mph. Trees and power lines were reported downed, the National Weather Service said.

More than 126,000 Pacific Gas & Electric customers were without power throughout the state by early afternoon, mostly in the region south of San Francisco, according to PowerOutage.us.

The National Weather Service said the storm is a Pacific low pressure system interacting with California's 12th atmospheric river since late December.

The National Weather Service said showers should continue into Wednesday as the upper low moves north of the area. Cool, dry weather is expected through the weekend and there's some uncertainty on the conditions for early next week.

"Models have been bouncing back and forth with this, sometimes bringing rain to the area Tuesday and other times keeping it too far offshore," the weather service said. "Latest ensembles are split, and there are even a few that have some moderate to heavy rain amounts."

Before Tuesday's storm, Santa Maria had received 22.08 inches of rain this year, or about 197% of normal to date and has already reached 167% of normal for the water year, which runs from Sept. 1, 2022 to Aug. 31, 2023.

Lompoc had received 30.41 inches of rain this year before Tuesday, good for 246% to date and 211% of the water year that runs through August, meaning if Lompoc has no more rain through August it will still have received double the amount of rain as normal.

Santa Ynez had been hit with 29.25 inches of rain before Tuesday's totals were added, good for 218% of normal and 188% for the water year.

The Gibraltar, Cachuma and Jameson reservoirs in the county were all held near capacity Tuesday morning. Twitchell Reservoir was at 55.4% of its capacity Tuesday morning.

According to the National Weather Service, atmospheric rivers are relatively long, narrow regions in the atmosphere – like rivers in the sky – that transport most of the water vapor outside of the tropics. These columns of vapor move with the weather, carrying an amount of water vapor roughly equivalent to the average flow of water at the mouth of the Mississippi River. When the atmospheric rivers make landfall, they often release this water vapor in the form of rain or snow.

The latest US Drought Monitor says severe drought now only covers about 8% of the state, with a third of the state remaining in some level of drought.

A pedestrian bundled up in layers walks down North Broadway Tuesday morning during strong winds in Santa Maria.

Emergency responders assist in a rollover crash on Highway 101 and Santa Maria Way during Tuesday's rain storm.

PG&E workers arrive at Lakeview Junior High in Orcutt to a downed power line on Tuesday. Downed lines and equipment issues left thousands of customers without power for several hours amid the atmospheric river event that brought another inch of rain to much of northern Santa Barbara County.

A bicyclist in a rain poncho rides down South Miller Street in Santa Maria during Tuesday's rainstorm.

The Welcome to the 805 Spring Classic concert and car show was postponed from this weekend due to weather conditions.

Grey skies hover a vineyard on Telephone Road in Orcutt during Tuesday's storm.

A flood watch and flood advisory are in effect until 5 p.m. Wednesday for San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

A group of mallard ducks wander through Jim May Park in Santa Maria during Tuesdays rainstorm.