Last night, Cal Poly Academic Affairs sent out an email to the campus community announcing that the campus will remain open today amidst the rain, with classes and operations scheduled at their regular time.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has enacted a state of emergency for southern California, with San Luis Obispo included in the report. The numerous wildfires throughout the counties have caused burn scars which increase the potential for rainfall to cause mud and debris flows, the proclamation said.
While rainfall topped 10 inches in Los Angeles County according to The Weather Channel, San Luis Obispo is expected to have occasional rain showers continue until Wednesday night, with light winds and reduced visibility at night. The possibility of thunderstorms is high until Tuesday night, according to The National Weather Service.
“We understand that the effects of the storm could cause issues that make coming to campus difficult,” the email from Academic Affairs said. “If you are unable to attend class due to storm-related issues, please reach out to your instructors.”
Last night, strong winds were as high as 80 mph in San Luis Obispo County, accompanying fallen trees and power lines, causing power outages for 40,000 PG&E customers, according to the SLO Tribune. As of 2:30 p.m. today, the power is out for 3,935 people in SLO County, according to the PG&E Outage Center.
The San Luis Obispo Regional Airport lost power and started running on generators on Sunday night, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported. The power loss did not affect the terminal’s capacity to operate, but Deputy Director Courtney Pene encouraged passengers to check in with their air carriers before preparing to travel.
The rain total for San Luis Obispo reached 1.07 inches and Arroyo Grande hit 1.47 inches, according to The National Weather Service. Further south, Santa Barbara has 3.88 inches and Los Angeles County hit over 10 inches for certain areas.
This is an ongoing story. Mustang News will continue to run updates as new information arises.