The season’s first big storm hit Santa Barbara County more gently than expected Wednesday, sparing residents of the South Coast’s fire-stripped hills any damage from flooding or mudslides.

By early afternoon Wednesday, the periodically heavy rainfall that began Tuesday had diminished enough for authorities to lift an evacuation order for hundreds of homes in parts of Montecito and northeastern Santa Barbara that were charred by the Tea Fire. That wind-driven blaze erupted on the evening of Nov. 13 and destroyed 210 homes before it was extinguished.

Forecasters had predicted up to three inches of rain for the fire burn areas, but only about an inch fell in Montecito, according to Tom Fayram, Santa Barbara County deputy director of public works.

“For whatever reason, the Tea Fire area was spared” heavier rains that hit nearby Carpinteria and to the west near Gaviota, he said.

The wettest spot, he added, was further west in Refugio Canyon, where nearly three inches of rain fell.

No major problems were caused by the storm in the Tea Fire area or along thousands of acres of Goleta foothills burned by the Gap Fire in July. Up to 1.5 inches of rain fell in that area.

“We haven’t had any reports of flooding issues,” Fayram said. In Montecito, “we had some rocks and debris (deposited) on some of the roadways, which was cleaned up, but nothing too serious,” he said.

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“It’s looking better than we thought,” echoed Geri Ventura, spokeswoman for the Montecito Fire Department. “I think we skirted disaster. Luckily, Mother Nature cooperated and wasn’t too damaging.”

The evacuation order — issued Tuesday due to the threat of flooding and mudslides from steep, burned slopes — was downgraded to an evacuation warning Wednesday afternoon. A flash flood watch issued by the National Weather Service remained in effect until late night.

Residents of the burn area were still advised to “have emergency plans in place” and be ready to leave their homes if weather conditions worsened.

However, mostly sunny skies — and no more precipitation — were forecast for today and through the weekend, with high temperatures approaching 70 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

Until the middle of next week, “skies will be mostly clear,” said Stuart Seto, a weather specialist at the Weather Service station in

Oxnard.

The storm dumped about 1.2 inches of rain in the Santa Maria area, he said.

November 27, 2008