Explainer: What California’s atmospheric rivers mean for drought, floods, fires
California has experienced an exceptionally wet winter with 11 atmospheric rivers battering the state since late December. A twelfth such storm is due to land on Tuesday, threatening to cause even more flooding, landslides and road closures. Atmospheric rivers are vast airborne currents of dense moisture carried aloft for hundreds of miles from the Pacific and funneled over land to fall as bouts of heavy rain and snow. Here’s what such storms mean for the near and long term. California has received 147% of average rainfall so far this season, according to the state Department of Water Resources.
Related articles:
- KTLA – Los Angeles: After 14 atmospheric rivers, how full are California’s reservoirs?
- Press-Enterprise: Tired of rain? There’s more of it, along with wind and snow, on the way to Southern California
- Newsweek: California’s Unprecedented Snowfall Seen From Space - ‘Absurd’
- Sacramento Bee: Rain returns to Sacramento with snow in the Sierra, and more storms are in store this week
- Washington Post: California’s Drought Is Over. Its Water Problems Aren’t.