John Palminteri
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – There is a rush for some people to step up their holiday shopping, travel and even cooking plans with an incoming wave of solid rain barreling down on the Central Coast.
Today is expected to be the one of the busiest air travel days between now and January 4, 2026 when the holiday season begins wrapping up.
More than 122 million people are expected to drive or take a flight, according to AAA — a new record.
An incoming storm with a stepped up timeline has forced the adjustment of many schedules.
This will be apparent at the weekend Farmers Markets. In Santa Barbara and Goleta, extra boxes of produce, nuts, honey and meats are coming in from the farms.
“Yeah. I think the farmer is going to be harvesting a lot of product for both Saturday and Sunday market. So I think we’re anticipating huge crowds, probably larger than normal. But it is supposed to be very wet on Tuesday, the market will be open. But you know, if you want to get out there before the rain, definitely at the weekend market,” said Farmers Market CEO Sam Edleman.
Timing and freshness is what the shoppers are looking for, along with convenience without hitting the bad weather.
“Both markets are pretty easy to navigate. There’s really, easy parking in the close proximity, especially Sunday Goleta. So if you kind of want to get closer to that Christmas holiday holiday shopping, you can roll right up to the marketplace and be ready to go,” said Edleman.
On Stearns Wharf guitarist Jason Frost said, ” When it rains, I’m out of business.”
Every dollar now matters.
“I sometimes have to just hope I made enough to cover my parking and gas. But luckily, you know, now things are a little better,” he said. ” I just I look forward to coming out here every day. You know, the weather, the weather is always the boss in my case. I’ve been out here for about well ever since the Covid probably about four years I guess. It’s my little niche that I’ve carved out for myself.”
Santa Barbara has many small vendors, like a pop up at the Paradise Springs in the Funk Zone, and many other locations on the South Coast. One thing all these vendors need is good weather to have a successful day.
A group of sellers Friday talked to the browsers and the buyers for clothing , jewelry cards, and more.
Christina Canon is the owner of Chula. “It’s going to be very quiet right after, you know, starting on Sunday when the weather changes. So every client counts. Every transaction counts. What you set up, how you run your business, everything is going to count. So it’s getting tight. A little short because of the rain.”
If you want to shop local this is the roots of it.
Canon said , “This is like how I got my business started to when I got my first guest to Santa Barbara. I mean, it just took off from there. I started out with two racks and I was able to grow my business.”
Some drivers looking to leave for a vacation Wednesday are considering a 24 hour change to Tuesday or even earlier.
Rain will stream in off the Pacific Ocean for at least two days and then off and on later in the week including Christmas Day.
The projections are for several inches of rain, with the risk of surface street and freeway flooding, some debris flows in areas of recent fires and slick road conditions in problematic areas such as the Gaviota curve and San Marcos Pass.
This week there have already been major accidents including a vehicle into a ditch on Hwy 154 at Edison, a rollover on Bath St. at Anapamu St., a five vehicle crash on San Miguel St. and a fatal crash on the upper end of Figueroa Mtn. Road.
In the mountains, the snow level is not expected to be below 6000 feet in the coastal front country area..
For those buying gifts in person, this weekend may be their only free time if they are working next week or spending time in airports.
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