A major winter storm is expected to hit Santa Barbara County during the peak of holiday travel, with the worst impacts forecast between Tuesday night and Thursday morning — Christmas Day — according to alerts from the County of Santa Barbara and the National Weather Service (NWS).
“This is a significant storm system,” the NWS warned in its latest update Friday. “Ample holiday travel impacts [are] expected Tue night through Thu. Plan for road & airport delays. Adjust holiday plans.”
The storm could bring 2–4 inches of rain along the coast and 4–8 inches in the mountains, with peak hourly rain rates reaching up to 1 inch per hour in a higher-end scenario. There is also a 5–10 percent chance of thunderstorms on December 24 and 25, and snow levels could fall to 5,000–6,000 feet by the end of the storm…