Millions of Californians continue to face flood watches and advisories as lingering rain from a powerful atmospheric river storm maintains the threat of flooding.
Northern parts of the state and areas along the Sacramento River remain under flood warnings on Wednesday, while a swathe of northern, central and southeastern California remain under watches. The greater Los Angeles area and Santa Barbara have been downgraded to flood advisories as the storm front pushes eastward.
According to the Weather Channel, some 36 million people are under the threat of flooding, which could bring mudslides, with pictures emerging of roads being washed away near San Jose.
The latest atmospheric river storm to drench the West Coast made landfall on Monday, bringing more than four inches of rainfall in areas including Malibu and Beverly Hills in a day. On Tuesday, another inch of rain fell over Los Angeles.
NWS
The National Weather Service (NWS) expects the impacts from rain and snowfall across California to come to an end on Wednesday, as lingering showers gradually weaken before coming to an end on Wednesday night.
In its latest forecast, it said that as the storm moves over interior states, as much as a foot of new snow would fall on the intermountain West and central Rockies. The storm is also predicted to support the movement of dry air over New Mexico and western Texas, raising the risk of fires.
Many of the flood warnings and advisories will remain in place through Wednesday morning, with some extending into the night.
Powerful atmospheric river storms have already caused areas of flooding and mudslides as well as several deaths, prompting the state’s Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency for several counties earlier in February.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Around the same time last year, California was battered by a parade of deadly storms that brought severe flooding. Thousands of homes were left without power and many people were evacuated.
At the time, climate scientists attributed the severity of the storms to climate change pushing more moisture into the atmosphere and energizing weather systems. The extended storm period this winter has led to historic levels of precipitation.
Continued rainfall over southwest California will maintain the threat of minor flooding of low-lying areas, leaving the potential for landslides. Advisories cover the Hollywood Hills and Griffith Park.
Elsewhere, flooding caused by excessive rain remains a possibility, with overflowing creeks and rivers risking flooding nearby roads and freeways.
Atmospheric rivers are narrow channels in the atmosphere that can carry a large amount of moisture with them. They form when cold air from the Arctic meets warm, moist air from the tropics, cooling it to form heavy precipitation.
A strong river can transport as much as 15 times the amount of water flowing through the mouth of the Mississippi River, according to the NOAA.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.