Flood, Santa Barbara
- When
- January 8, 7:00 AM PST
- Where
- Santa Barbara County, Goleta
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 34.538, -120.031 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood in California, January 8, 2001
Heavy rain produced street flooding in the city of Goleta.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS LOX wrote it up.
Heavy rain produced street flooding in the city of Goleta.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Los Angeles, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 8, 3:00 AM PST, 4 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 8, 3:00 AM PST, 4 hours before
SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOS ANGELES/OXNARD CA 300 AM PST MON JAN 8 2001 TODAY...LATEST RADAR IMAGERY INDICATES FRONTAL BAND MOVING ACROSS THE CENTRAL COAST...WITH AUTOMATED GAUGES REPORTING ACCUMULATING RAIN. 00Z MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT AND APPEAR TO HANDLE THE FRONTAL BAND RATHER WELL...WITH FRONT AND ASSOCIATED RAINFALL GRADUALLY SPREADING WEST TO EAST ACROSS THE DISTRICT THIS MORNING. BY THIS AFTERNOON...RAIN WILL TURN TO SHOWERS AND DECREASE FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE AREA. OVERALL...PRECIP AMOUNTS ARE GENERALLY EXPECTED TO BE BETWEEN ONE QUARTER AND ONE HALF INCH...WITH HIGHER AMOUNTS IN THE FOOTHILLS/MOUNTAINS AND ACROSS THE CENTRAL COAST. WITH SOUTHERLY FLOW AHEAD OF FRONT...SNOW LEVELS ARE STARTING OUT RATHER HIGH (ABOVE 7000 FEET). HOWEVER...EXPECT SNOW LEVELS TO DROP TO AROUND 5000 THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. HOWEVER...BY THE TIME THIS HAPPENS...BULK OF PRECIP WILL BE OVER. THEREFORE...EXPECT SOME SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...BUT NOT APPROACHING ADVISORY/WARNING LEVELS. ALSO...MODELS INDICATE THAT LIFTED INDICES APPROACH ZERO AND 500 MB TEMPS DROP BELOW -20C. SO...THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT TODAY...SO WILL INCLUDE MENTION IN ZONES. TONIGHT...FRONT SHOULD BE EXITING LA COUNTY THIS EVENING. SO...WILL EXPECT SOME EVENING SHOWERS ACROSS LA COUNTY AND IN THE VTU/LA MOUNTAINS. HOWEVER...OVERNIGHT SHOWERS SHOULD END ACROSS SOUTHERN SECTIONS AND SKIES WILL BE PARTLY CLOUDY. ALSO...WITH MOIST GROUND SOME PATCHY FOG IS POSSIBLE ANYWHERE LATE TONIGHT. TUESDAY...AREA WILL BE UNDER INFLUENCE OF SHORTWAVE RIDGE. HOWEVER RESIDUAL MOISTURE SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO GENERATE SOME PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES...BUT DO NOT EXPECT ANY PRECIP. AS FOR TEMPS...NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS WILL BE QUITE COOL WITH COASTAL AND VALLEY TEMPS IN THE MID 50S TO MID 60S. FOR EXTENDED...MRF/AVN INDICATE BAND OF MID LEVEL MOISTURE MOVES ACROSS THE AREA WED. HOWEVER...DYNAMICS ARE NON-EXISTANT...SO DO NOT ANTICIPATE ANYTHING WORSE THAN PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES. ON THUR... MODELS CONTINUE TO INDICATE STRONG SYSTEM AFFECTING CENTRAL/SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA...WITH RAIN/SNOW EXPECTED FOR ALL AREAS. ON FRI...UPPER LOW REMAINS OVER EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA...SO SHOULD BE ENOUGH INSTABILITY/RESIDUAL MOISTURE TO WARRANT CHANCE/SLIGHT CHANCE POPS. FOR SAT/SUN...EXPECT DRY CONDITIONS...BUT CONTINUED COOL TEMPS. LAX +50. THOMPSON. .LAX...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY (SEE LAXCWFLAX).
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flood
- Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heavy Snow in California, January 8, 2001
- Heavy Snow in North Carolina, January 8 to 9, 2001
- Heavy Snow in North Carolina, January 8, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, January 8 to 9, 2001
- Winter Weather in West Virginia, January 8, 2001
- Heavy Rain in California, January 8, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Virginia, January 8, 2001
- Heavy Snow in New Jersey, January 8 to 9, 2001
- Dust Storm in California, January 8, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Michigan, January 8, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Michigan, January 8 to 9, 2001
- Flood in California, January 8, 2001
More
Every storm in California in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in California, January 2001
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5227877.