Rain is in the forecast starting Wednesday afternoon, and the Freedom Warming Centers will be opening their doors from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. to shelter the homeless. “Freedom activates based on triggers such as 50 percent chance of overnight rain and 35 degrees or colder,” explained Kathy Hayes, who directs the program.
The National Weather Service (NWS) is predicting close to an inch of rain along Santa Barbara’s south coast overnight for Wednesday, and as much as two inches on south-facing slopes from the plume of rainy weather coming in on a fast-moving west wind. Debris flows are not expected, stated the NWS’s Eric Boldt, as the rainfall will be spread out. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates it’d take 0.8 inches of rain per hour to start a debris flow in the Thomas Fire burn scar’s second year.
Wednesday morning’s weather report added that the heaviest rain period has a small chance of thunderstorms before dawn on Thursday, but the rain potential, about 0.5 inches per hour, looks to be short of the debris-flow trigger. The cold front may produce snow down to 5,000-6,000 feet by Friday. To receive weather alerts for Santa Barbara County, sign up at awareandprepare.org.