Edhat Staff
Update by the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management
6:00 p.m., March 14, 2023
EVACUATION ORDERS CANCELLED FOR SANTA BARBARA COUNTY IDENTIFIED PROPERTIES IN SOUTH COUNTY
Risk still remains, stay vigilant and expect storm impacts
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, in coordination with fire agencies and other public safety officials, has announced that as of 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 14, 2023, Evacuation Orders are cancelled for the identified properties and parcels in the Alisal Fire, Cave Fire, and Thomas Fire burn areas in Santa Barbara County.
An Evacuation Warning is still in place for identified properties on the 800 block of Pioneer St. in the City of Guadalupe. Residents should be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice.
Please be advised that areas affected by road closures or flooding may not be able to repopulate yet. While residents are allowed to return home, be aware of loose and falling rocks, minor landslides, wet road conditions, downed trees and power lines.
Public safety officials remain engaged and are actively assessing and responding to damages that occurred as a result of the storm. Residents in areas of concern in Sisquoc, Garey, Tepusquet and Foxen Canyon should remain vigilant for flooded roads and hazards.
Creek and river flows are expected to continue to increase through at least Wednesday, March 15. Remain vigilant, and do not wait to evacuate if you feel unsafe. Do not pass through standing or running water. The water may be much deeper than it appears, and extremely dangerous.
The evacuation shelter at Wake Center in Santa Barbara will close this evening.
For additional information regarding status of roads, weather conditions and more:
- For status of highways, visit Caltrans: https://roads.dot.ca.gov/roadscell.php
- For status of county roadways, visit County Public Works: https://www.countyofsb.org/2116/Road-Closures
- Contact the Santa Barbara County Call Center at (833) 688-5551, open until 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 14.
- Visit https://www.readysbc.org/.
Tuesday Afternoon Update: Evacuation Center Opening, Road Closures, and More
Update by the City of Santa Barbara
12:00 p.m., March 14, 2023
An Evacuation Order is in effect for Thomas, Alisal, and Cave Fire burn scar areas. Use the interactive incident map to determine if your residence falls under the Evacuation Order boundaries. Santa Barbara County 2023 March Winter Storm Incident Map (arcgis.com).
Residents not under the Evacuation Order are encouraged to stay sheltered at home, avoid driving or walking through flooded roadways, and stay away from creeks.
Roads leading in and out of the Sisquoc and Tepusquet areas could be damaged by this storm. Residents of those areas should either leave or prepare to sustain themselves in case roads become impassable.
Evacuation Shelter:
The Wake Center on 300 N. Turnpike Road in Santa Barbara is open as an evacuation shelter for persons displaced by evacuation orders. For north county support, call the American Red Cross at (805) 678-3073.
Low-Lying and Flood-Prone Areas:
The City’s Public Works Department continues to monitor the following flood-prone areas. Currently, these streets remain open:
- Cliff Drive at Yankee Farm
- Old Coast Highway
- South Calle Cesar Chavez
- Anacapa St.
- Castillo St. and the 101
- Gibraltar Rd.
- West Mountain Drive
- Tremonto Rd. and Mountain Drive
- Roble Lane
- 3700 block of Modoc
- 3600 block of Calle Real
Public Works has closed the following streets as a precaution, due to past flooding:
- Por La Mar Drive
- 100 block of Anacapa St.
- 0 block of South Calle Cesar Chavez
The Public Works Department is closely monitoring the storm, City streets and ensuring creeks are clear of debris.
Please contact the Public Works Streets division for clogged/blocked storm drains or streets related emergencies at (805) 564-5454.
The Sandbag Station will be open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, March 14 at 401 E. Yanonali Street. Please click the following link for sandbag information: Sandbag Information | City of Santa Barbara (santabarbaraca.gov)
Free Storm Parking:
If community members cannot avoid the roadways and need a safe place to park, the City is allowing free emergency parking on the roof top of the Ortega Parking Garage / Lot 10 (Ortega Street and Anacapa Street) for members of the public who need safe parking (out of flood zone) throughout this emergency storm event. This Free Emergency Parking Program is valid only from Tuesday, March 14 at 9 a.m. through Wednesday, March 15, at 5 p.m.
More details:
- Members of the public must park the car and leave the parking garage- no camping allowed.
- The public must register with the Ambassador Team at the registration table on the ground floor to document the following: name, address, license plate number, make, model and color of vehicle, phone number and email.
- Ambassador team will provide an event ticket to be placed in vehicle for validation.
- Ambassadors will also provide a flyer with pertinent information regarding parking.
NEW: In addition to the Lot 10 parking, The City has coordinated with SB Unified Schools to provide an option for our Eastside residents. Free storm parking is available at the Armory, located at 700 E Canon Perdido St. Community members can enter through the gate on Quarantina St. Those parking a vehicle do not need to move their cars until noon, Wednesday, March 15. No camping allowed, this lot is for storm parking only.
Important driving tips:
- Do not drive through standing water or a road closure.
- Do not attempt to drive while it is dark or raining as roads may be damaged and your car maybe swept away by moving water or debris.
Resources and Information:
- For school closures, please visit the Santa Barbara County Education Office storm update page.
- For animal evacuation assistance and information, call Santa Barbara County Animal Services at (805) 681-4332.
- For status of highways, visit Caltrans: https://roads.dot.ca.gov/roadscell.php
- For status of county roadways, visit County Public Works: https://www.countyofsb.org/2116/Road-Closures
Update by the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management
7:43 a.m., March 14, 2023
An EVACUATION ORDER has been issued for the identified properties and areas in south Santa Barbara County associated with the Alisal, Cave, and Thomas Fires.
Residents in these areas should leave now.
Click the following link to access an interactive evacuation map for this incident: https://sbcoem.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=887c7b2302484e41b8f20f37660cb2cb
DO NOT attempt to drive while it is dark or raining heavily, roads may be damaged or your car may be swept away by moving water or debris.
If you choose not to evacuate, BE PREPARED to sustain yourself and your household for multiple days, as you may not be able to leave the area and emergency responders may not be able to access your property in the event of road damage, flooding, or a debris flow.
- Roads leading in and out of the Sisquoc and Tepusquet areas could be damaged by this storm. Residents of those areas should either leave or prepare to sustain themselves in case roads become impassable.
Resources and Information:
- For additional information regarding evacuation shelters, weather conditions and more:
- Visit: https://www.readysbc.org/
- Contact the Santa Barbara County Call Center at (833) 688-5551, open from 7:30 a.m. – 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 14.
- For animal evacuation assistance and information, call Santa Barbara County Animal Services at (805) 681-4332.
- For status of highways, visit Caltrans: https://roads.dot.ca.gov/roadscell.php
- For status of county roadways, visit County Public Works: https://www.countyofsb.org/2116/Road-Closures
By the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management
6:00 p.m., March 13, 2023
AN EVACUATION WARNING IN EFFECT AS OF 6 P.M. ON MONDAY, MARCH 13 TURNING INTO AN EVACUATION ORDER AS OF 8 A.M. ON TUESDAY, MARCH 14
An EVACUATION WARNING has been issued effective Monday, March 13 at 6 p.m. and will be upgraded to an EVACUATION ORDER effective as of 8 a.m. Tuesday, March 14 for the identified properties and parcels in the following Santa Barbara County south coast burn scar areas due to threats to life and safety caused by the incoming storm:
- ALISAL FIRE BURN SCAR (see map for details)
- CAVE FIRE BURN SCAR (see map for details)
- THOMAS FIRE BURN SCAR IN SANTA BARBARA COUNTY (see map for details)
All areas impacted in the previous storms should remain vigilant. The Sisquoc, Garey, Tepusquet and Foxen Canyons areas in north Santa Barbara County are areas of concern. Residents in these areas may become isolated due to flooding and should be prepared to stay in place and self-sustain.
Please call the American Red Cross at 805-678-3073 if you need assistance with sheltering tonight, March 13, 2023.
Santa Barbara County 2023 March Winter Storm Incident Map
Areas that are under evacuation warning and additional areas of concern are highlighted in the Santa Barbara County 2023 March Winter Storm Incident Map.
Type in your address to see if your property falls within the highlighted areas. If so, prepare now to evacuate before the heaviest rain arrives or stay in place.
In response to the Evacuation Warning, community members are asked to:
- Prepare to leave: fill gas tank, load up important documents, essential items, etc.
- LEAVE if you feel unsafe. DO NOT wait for an evacuation order.
- People with disabilities, access and functional needs should LEAVE NOW.
- People with large animals should LEAVE NOW.
- DO NOT attempt to drive while it is dark or raining, as roads may be damaged or your car may be swept away by moving water or debris.
- BE PREPARED to sustain yourself and your household for multiple days if you choose not to evacuate, as you may not be able to leave the area and emergency responders may not be able to access your property in the event of road damage, flooding, or a debris flow.
According to the National Weather Service, rainfall is anticipated to start Monday night and remain consistent through Wednesday morning. A Flood Watch is in effect countywide beginning at 7 a.m., March 14 through 5 a.m., March 15. Coasts and valleys are expected to get 2 – 5 inches of rain, while foothills and mountains can expect to receive 4 – 8 inches of rain to the already saturated watershed. This storm will bring a high threat of dangerous flooding of roads, creeks, and streams. Roads may become impassable due to flooding or flood damage.
Additionally, the following storm resources are available:
- For assistance with animal evacuations, please contact Santa Barbara County Animal Services at (805) 681-4332.
- For status of highways, visit Caltrans: https://roads.dot.ca.gov/roadscell.php
- For status of county roadways, visit County Public Works: https://www.countyofsb.org/2116/Road-Closures
For additional information regarding evacuation shelters, weather conditions and more:
- Contact the Santa Barbara County Call Center at (833) 688-5551, open from 7:30 a.m. – 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 14.
- Visit https://www.readysbc.org/.
REGISTER TO RECEIVE ReadySBC ALERTS: If you haven’t registered for emergency alerts, register now at ReadySBC.org. Receive local emergency alerts via text, phone call, and email.
The “break” in offshore satellite clouds didn’t account for uplift when the warm air gets uplift from our mountains it seems. Clouds and radar returns are appearing like magic out in the Channel and keeping the showers active.
Atascadero Ck. 1,330cfs at Patterson. Don’t recall having seen it that high in recent storms. Anyone noticed how it’s looking?
It’s been 12 hours of rain. How are the totals in your area?
It rained a bit between 4-6 a.m., but got steady at 6. No downpours where I’m at.
I use Cater and Goleta Road Yard to estimate my rainfall (I’m closer to Cater but lower).
So 2.25″ – 2.4″ for me.
Been thinking how this storm didn’t live up to its forecast for us lucky Santa Barbarians. I’m especially thinking of how the first responders and emergency managers went through or are too well aware of the debris flow disaster.
Imagine if they did NOT call for evacs and over-prepare and it was a bad storm situation… I thank them all.
(I worked for the county latter half of the aughts, through too many fires and evacuations. It takes a lot out of one, even a lowly worker.)
I found the selection of multiple forecasting models on Windy.com. Today, the European ECMWF forecast was more accurate than the U.S. NWS’s GFS model.
Pretty cool to just toggle between them on Windy and see the graphic, color-coded differences. (GFS forecast a peak intensity for 1 p.m. that we did not reach; ECMWF didn’t.)
NWS: 1″ Montecito, 3/4″ in Carp and SB to IV from 7pm until morning. What’s the EU predicting?
I am not a power user. I’ve just been flipping between the 2 models and clicking through hour by hour.
https://www.windy.com/-Rain-thunder-rain?gfs,rain,34.064,-119.980,8
The two aren’t very different from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. .25″ to .75″? Per hour? As I said, I’m not very conversant with all the layers and interpretation of their numbers.
NWS rain quoted is for 6hr. periods. Fun to rummage the web and compare forecasts w/what falls on our heads. Thanks for sharing what you found on Windy. 🙂
Still plenty of activity building outside the Channel, and radar is showing returns approaching SoCA all the way to San Diego. Seems likely rain will pick up here again in a while as heavier clouds on satellite come in and radar showing rain in cloud tops as they come over the horizon. Hope we’re past the heaviest stuff though. East side of I-5 between Redding & Red Bluff just had some heavy rain, and Merced got hammered with the strongest rain I’ve seen today (maybe T-storm) that’s now headed into the Sierra.
This Twitter feed is excellent for staying informed about all the severe weather events occurring in the entire state.
https://twitter.com/hashtag/CAwx?src=hashtag_click&f=live
Stay safe today.
Most rain 7-11pm in NWS forecast and 1/2-1/3″ after that. BTW, Carp FC is .92″ (not 3/4″).
Bake cookies.
Bake a pie!
“Get baked” is the recipe of some friends. %}
well, it is Pi day…
well, it is Pi day…
Can somebody please recommend somewhere hot and dry?
No drought & wildfires presumably? So culture, education, and diversity in a moderate climate with ocean, surfing & boating, mountains, climbing & skiing, lakes, desert, all types of forest and the highest & lowest points in the contiguous U.S. all nearby? But without climate change.
Not me, Cannon, I LOVE rain!
Maybe less rain tonight than forecast? Radar shows moderate to heavy rain both North and South of here, and the islands possibly catching moderate to heavy rain that would otherwise be coming ashore here. Looks like we’ll get at least some of it, from SB down to LA/SD. Big squalls shaping up for Mugu and Santa Ana. A weaker on just hit Paso headed for Visalia. Quite a show.
Have had some heavy rain a couple of times in the past few hours, enough to overflow my gutters. .5″ in my area in the past 3 hours. https://rain.cosbpw.net/
Jameson & Gibraltar spilling, but Cachuma has been lowered to 91% ahead of the storm and still releasing ~8,000cfs with more moderate and heavy rain forecast.
Rain heavy in Goleta north campus UCSB past two hours.
Rain easing up? Looks like a break in the moderate to heavy rain is about to arrive, judging by near shore radar returns. Out in the Pacific, there’s still a narrow band of heavy clouds aimed at SB but maybe it will change course by the time it arrives. Big Sur mountains “only” got another 4″ from this storm. Hwy.1 must be quite a mess, with slide risk continuing for quite a while even w/o more rain.
Closing all the schools yesterday was totally unnecessary
Hindsight is 20/20. Reality is, last time a storm like this was forecasted (Jan 9), many teachers and school employees were stranded in town due to flooded roadways leading to Lompoc and Ventura. That’s reality, many many many school employees cannot afford to live in town.
What do you suggest? Ignoring weather forecasts because sometimes they don’t materialize? Let’s not be foolish. It’s easy to say “that was the wrong decision” after the fact, duh.
8:44 has it correct. It could have easily been worse, when you get into the details, there was no way of knowing. Many of the teachers at my kids’ schools live out of town and have been stranded before.
As I said Tuesday: “Been thinking how this storm didn’t live up to its forecast for us lucky Santa Barbarians. I’m especially thinking of how the first responders and emergency managers went through or are too well aware of the debris flow disaster.
Imagine if they did NOT call for evacs and over-prepare and it was a bad storm situation… I thank them all.”