Flood — X W San Luis Obispo, California

2001-03-05 · X W San Luis Obispo, California

Wider weather episode

A powerful and slow-moving storm brought heavy rain, strong winds and snow to Central and Southern California. Across San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, rainfall totals ranged from 2 to 6 inches over coastal and valley areas to 6 to 13 inches in the mountains. In San Luis Obispo county, the heavy rain produced numerous flooding. In Oceano, the Arroyo Grande Creek overflowed, destroying numerous crops and damaging one home. Also, the Pacific Dunes RV Park was flooded, stranding several residents. In Arroyo Grande, flooding along Corbett Creek damaged 4 homes and 5 classrooms in Arroyo Grande High School. In Pismo Beach, flooding along Pismo Creek damaged some homes in Pismo Court Village. In Nipomo, several small streams flooded, damaging 20 to 30 homes. In Creston, the heavy rain produced widespread urban flooding. Widespread flooding also occurred across Santa Barbara county. The Santa Barbara Airport was flooded when the Las Vegas and Mission Creeks overflowed. Many reports of mudslides were received from Santa Barbara county. In addition, the extreme rainfall and runoff resulted in flooding along the Santa Ynez River. Along the Santa Ynez River, the peak river stage reached 21 feet which was 9 feet above flood stage. Across Ventura and Los Angeles counties, rainfall totals were somewhat less, but still very significant. Ventura county received between 3 and 12 inches of rainfall while Los Angeles county received 1 to 3 inches. This heavy rainfall produced numerous flooding and mudslides. Near Fillmore, South Mountain and Guiberson Roads were closed due to mudslides. In Malibu, mudslides closed sections of Corral Canyon and Malibu Canyon Roads. Across Central and Southern California, strong southeasterly winds accompanied the storm. Widespread winds between 30 and 50 MPH with stronger gusts were reported from the coastal areas to the mountains. In the mountains of Ventura and Los Angeles counties, winter storm conditions developed with snowfall accumulations of 6 to 12 inches, gusty southeast winds and visibilities near zero in blowing snow and dense fog.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5236427. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.