Mild rain predicted this time around

Today’s rain is predicted to be milder than this year’s previous storms.

Expect light to moderate rain through Thursday morning, the National Weather Service said.

The weather service said that after Tuesday night’s rain, there would be few hours of little to no rain “and likely even some sunshine (especially south of Point Conception) before the colder and more unstable part of the system arrives later” today, going into Thursday morning.

The weather service said the chance of rain later on Thursday is 40% to 50% in Santa Barbara County.

The weather service said there’s no chance of rain on Friday, when the county will see partly cloudy skies.

Saturday will be sunny, according to the weather service. Keep your jacket handy. Temperatures this week are continuing to hover in the mid- to upper 40s, 50s and low 60s.

“Large swell in the coastal waters may bring marginal high surf 8 to 12 feet on Central Coast beaches on (today) and Thursday and 4 to 7 feet on Ventura beaches on Thursday,” the weather service said. “This is a fairly low confidence forecast with only a 50% chance of reaching criteria. However, there will be a high risk of rip currents on many beaches (today) and Thursday.”

— Dave Mason