The fall rain has arrived, but not with gusto.

A weak weather system passed quickly through the Central Coast Saturday morning, scattering showers through mountains and valleys before making way for afternoon sunshine.

Bonnie Bartling, with the National Weather Service office in Oxnard, said the system started in the Pacific Northwest, and moved through California, dwindling as it reached Los Angeles.

A low pressure system was responsible for the cooler temperatures and rain, she said.

Temperatures were in the 60s on the Central Coast late Saturday afternoon, but are expected to hit the 80s in the coming days in Santa Maria and Lompoc, and the 90s in Santa Ynez.

“We're just kind of doing the roller coaster thing right now,” Bartling said.

Yo-yo weather is common this time of year on the Central Coast, she said.

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Southern San Luis Obispo County was hit harder by rain Saturday than northern Santa Barbara County.

Pismo Beach had 0.13 of an inch of rain, Nipomo saw 0.16 and Arroyo Grande recorded 0.20, according to the National Weather Service. Port San Luis capture the highest amount at 0.33 of an inch.

Santa Maria was showered with 0.08 of an inch. Other rainfall totals as of late Saturday afternoon were 0.11 in Lompoc, 0.10 in Santa Ynez and a trace in Goleta.

Bartling said the rain was “a little sneak peak of hopefully what is to come.”

The California Highway Patrol did not report an increase in vehicle crashes due to the rain.

However, an Arroyo Grande man was seriously injured Saturday morning as he was struck by a pickup truck while walking in the rain on Willow Road west of Sundale Way in Nipomo, according to the CHP.

The 25-year-old Arroyo Grande man, whose name was not immediately released, was reportedly walking in the westbound traffic lane of Willow Road when he was struck around 6:15 a.m. by the right front of a 2001 GMC 1500 pickup truck driven by a 56-year-old Nipomo man.

The injured man, who was wearing dark clothing, was taken by ambulance to Arroyo Grande Community Hospital with major injuries, the CHP reported.

The injured man admitted to drinking alcohol before the crash and his state of sobriety remains under investigation, the CHP said.

The driver of the truck had not been drinking, according to the CHP.

Samantha Yale can be reached at 739-2159 or syale@santamariatimes.com.

October 5, 2008