Ark-Building Weather

Some seriously soggy weather rolled into the South Coast late last week, and, as of press time some five days later, the rain had rarely let up. A large low-pressure system, sitting virtually stationary off the coast of Washington and Oregon since early last Friday, opened up the door for a series of powerful rain-producing cold fronts to beeline their away across the Pacific straight at Santa Barbara County.

Authorities report relatively little damage beyond a few fallen trees (above, one of the storm’s casualties — a Hummer parked near Oak Park — felt the pain on Sunday), minor rock slides, and the occasional brief power outage. Since the storms started, though, nearly nine inches of rain have fallen in downtown Santa Barbara, while San Marcos Pass has seen more than 14 inches come down. Even more impressively, the storms have dropped a reported 15 feet of fresh snow in the mountains around Mammoth Lakes. According to forecasters, clearing skies are due later this week, with the chance of some additional showers during Christmas weekend.