Major storms approaching

January 15, 2010

BY KAREN VELIE

County emergency officials are warning of  “a very serious, strong weather series of events next week.”

Based on data from the National Weather Service in Oxnard and PG&E meteorologist John Lindsey, they expect a series of storms to hit the Central Coast on Sunday night and Monday. A second, stronger, storm follows on Tuesday and Wednesday, with an even more potent storm arriving on Thursday, and into Friday.

Rain of five to 10 inches is expected, combined with heavy winds.

Ron Alsop, county Emergency Services Manager warns in an e-mail sent out to colleagues, “At times, there is the potential for rainfall amounts to exceed one inch per hour during the week. Combined with a lot of water and strong winds, we could see landslides, trees down, power lines down, urban and small stream flooding, and many other problems.”

The projected weather conditions are due in part to moderate El Nino conditions. According to Alsop, a series of back-to-back storms like this has not been seen on the Central Coast for many years.

Meanwhile, southern California is expected to get the brunt of next week’s rain. One forecast calls for “an entire season’s worth of rain” to fall throughout the area during the next 10 days.

Alsop advises all county residents to be prepared for next week by stockpiling needed emergency supplies, having back up batteries on hand,  making sure phones and radios are fully charged and clearing all drain pipes.  Be prepared for lengthy power outages.