CENTRAL COAST—Heavy rains drenched the Central Coast at the start of the week, but forecasters say wet weather has largely drifted south, opening the curtain for warmer, sunny days.
While areas of the Central Coast dealt with isolated flooding, a few down trees and a couple of temporary road closures, large amounts of snow blanketed some parts of the Sierra, adding a new plus to the snowpack.
Anna Schneider, meteorologist with the National Weather Service of Monterey, said rainfall over the last 72 hours brought 3.11 inches of rain to Watsonville and 2.7 in Aptos. Gilroy reached 2.98 inches and Hollister registered 1.24, while Salinas only took in 1.08 inches.
Meteorologist Roger Gass said that the Santa Cruz Mountains collected between 3-5.5 inches.
“We definitely had significant amounts of rain in places,” Gass said. “It looks like Watsonville was one of the winners as far as rainfall.”
Gass said that with regards to the current water year, which started Oct. 1, “Watsonville is currently sitting at 117 percent of normal. That’s good news, considering the Bay Area, which is at around 50 percent. This is more than good news for the Watsonville area.”
When piling up totals from March, Gass said the numbers are high for the Central Coast, “especially for the month of April.”
There are still chances of isolated showers Wednesday evening.
“We can’t rule out showers coming through, here and there, before this system moves eastward,” Gass said.
By the weekend a warming trend and dry conditions will start up, with highs along the coast in the upper 60s, a trend that is expected to spill into early next week.
On the oceanfront, Gass said there is a “beach hazard” in effect today through 5 a.m. Wednesday. That hazard involves large periods of calm waves that are interrupted with sudden large swells, known as sneaker waves.
“Our main message is simple: Never turn your back on the ocean,” Gass said. “And stay off off the rocks and jetties.”
