The new year may have only begun two days ago, but Santa Barbara has already exceeded its normal rainfall to date for the water year following the New Year’s Eve storm.
Santa Barbara rang in the new year with soaking rain, overfull reservoirs, and rainfall levels reaching 105% of normal-to-date levels, according to the Rainfall and Reservoir Summary released by Santa Barbara County on January 1, 2026.
Santa Barbara was one of the wettest locations in the county during the recent storm, having received 1.15 inches of rain in the past 24 hours, according to the report…