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Winter Storm Moving Through Central, South Coasts Closes Section Of Highway 101

The northbound lanes of Highway 101 at Sheffield Drive in Montecito are empty Saturday morning, after flooding closed the roadway in both directions.

The winter storm moving through the Central and South Coasts created flooding which closed a section of Highway 101 Saturday morning.

San Ysidro Creek overflowed just west of Sheffield Drive in Montecito at about 10 a.m., forcing the shutdown of the highway in both directions.  Traffic was backed up for miles.  The creek also overflowed during the 1/9 debris flow in 2018, but this flooding is on a much smaller scale.  There's no word yet on when it will reopen.

There was also some damage to the rail line between Ventura and Santa Barbara, delaying some passenger trains.

The rain was heavy at times, prompting some flash flood warnings and causing some local street flooding.  At one point, an inch of rainfall was reported in a ten minute period.  Fortunately, there were no reports of major debris flows.

There are some impressive rainfall totals, topping five inches in some areas.  5.8" of rain has been recorded at Matilija Dam in Ventura County.  San Marcos Pass had 3.8", while Lake Cachuma got a badly needed 2.8".

In urban areas, Santa Barbara had 2.3", Carpinteria 1.4", while Ventura and Newbury park each had 1.1".

On the Central Coast, Solvang recorded 2.6", while Pismo Beach had an inch.  Showers remain in the forecast through the rest of the weekend.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral. 
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