Rain Tonight

It started just about 6PM over on the east side of Santa Cruz this evening.  Sporadic, yet heavy drops at first.  By 8PM, on the west side, a steady rain was falling, and water had begun to run in the streets.  This feels a little wetter, and a little earlier than expected.  While this is not near urban flooding levels, watch for standing water on your morning commute.  Some should accumulate in the usuals spots by then.  Crossing my fingers for a little more water with this storm, as we could really use it.  While reservoirs are at near historic average, the snowpack is very thin, especially on southerly slopes.  We need a like spackle.  What snow falls tonight will be heavy and wet with high snow levels.  Cooler air tomorrow lowers freezing levels to about 6000 feet.  With some luck, a bit lower.  Still looks like rain through the morning hours tomorrow, with some mid day clearing.  Still, expect chances of rain through the evening.  This thing will clear east to west, and areas to our north (sorry Portland) may see rain continue through the week (and weekend).

Oh, and it looks like some cooler air may move over the area for later this week.  So those 70s may be gone and replaced with mid 60s.  While good for the snowpack, I was looking forward to that beach weather.  South swell has started to show along the coast.  It is pretty minimum right now, but folks were having fun on it.  Several different swells should overlap, and by this Friday, we could be looking at some head high or more sets.  Watch the wind with this storm.  It will blow in every which direction. Get it offshore, at the right spot, at the right tide, at the right time, and you could be finding some nuggets.  Me?  I'm thinking when my window opens I'll be chasing the snow for a few days.  Have fun out there, and stay safe.