Live cameras in Santa Barbara, United States

Santa Barbara is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, about ninety miles northwest of Los Angeles. It sits on a narrow plain between the Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific, on the longest south-facing stretch of coast on the West Coast outside Alaska, which shelters it from the cold northwesterly swells and winds. The 2020 census counted about 88,700 residents. After a destructive earthquake in 1925, the city rebuilt in a Spanish Colonial Revival style, so red tile roofs and white stucco walls dominate downtown.

Mission Santa Barbara, founded in 1786 and often called the Queen of the Missions, overlooks the city from the foothills. The courthouse, finished in 1929, has a clock tower with sweeping views of the harbor and mountains. State Street runs from downtown to the beach and Stearns Wharf, built in 1872. Each summer the city celebrates the Summer Solstice Parade in June and Old Spanish Days, the Fiesta, in early August.

Highway 101 and San Marcos Pass

The views here are Caltrans traffic cameras, with still pictures that refresh every few minutes. They follow U.S. Route 101, the main highway along the coast, which runs through the city between Ventura and Goleta, along with State Route 154, the road that climbs over San Marcos Pass toward the Santa Ynez Valley. Work to widen the 101 south of the city has been a familiar sight in recent years, and holiday weekends bring long lines of cars from Los Angeles.

Santa Barbara's clocks spring forward in March and fall back in November, like the rest of the Pacific coast. The climate is mild and dry, and in early summer the coast is often cloudy in the morning, a pattern locals call May Gray and June Gloom. Winter storms can be heavy, and after the Thomas Fire of December 2017, rain the following January triggered deadly debris flows in Montecito. Long summer evenings run until about eight, and the shortest December days end before five.

Montecito lies just east along the coast, and the University of California's Santa Barbara campus and the city of Goleta are to the west.

Sources: Santa Barbara, California - Wikipedia · Caltrans QuickMap.