Friday night's rain drenched the South Coast with one to two inches of rain. An oncoming downpour triggered a warning for the Whittier and Sherpa burn areas west of Goleta; just under an inch fell between 10 and 11 p.m. at Gaviota, according to county gauges. All told, 1.66 inches fell at that part of the coast and just under an inch at the County Administration Building in downtown Santa Barbara. No overnight weather-related mishaps were reported by either county sheriff's or fire.
The National Weather Service meteorologists have their eyes on a series of storms expected to begin Sunday and continue to Friday; flash flood and debris flow potentials exist if thunderstorms develop, the county warned. The system appears to have been slowed by a block of high-pressure air above the Rocky Mountains, and on Saturday afternoon, the outlook was for rain by dawn on Monday — again one to two inches, three inches at south-facing hillsides, of moderate-to-heavy rainfall with strong wind gusts possible.
Altogether, up to 10 inches could fall in the mountains by week's end. The heaviest rains are expected Wednesday through Thursday. Saturation levels could be reached by the end of the week, the weather reports state, leading to flash floods or debris flows at low spots and creeks. They warn against driving into flooded roads or intersections.