While one atmospheric river is still dumping rain toward California, another storm is waiting in the wings.
The northern half of the state hasn’t even seen the worst of the rain from the season’s first major storm, which was strengthened by a “bomb outbreak.” Brian James, Nexstar’s chief meteorologist, said a “bomb cyclone” located off the coast of the Pacific Northwest continues to dump rain on the West Coast as the day progresses.
There’s another low pressure system lurking just behind it, and James said there’s a chance another atmospheric river could rush toward us around Thanksgiving.
Atmospheric rivers are complex meteorological phenomena, but their name literally means rivers in the sky. These weather phenomena are responsible for the large amounts of rain and snow that fall on the West Coast in the winter.
Southern California weather forecast home
“Think about it this way: There’s a hose on the ground and water is coming out of it, and every once in a while you grab your hand and push it to the side. And the water just goes to the side.” And the sidewalk is flooded. ” said James.
This is basically how you can imagine an atmospheric river off the coast of California today. It’s a constant stream of moisture that repeatedly pushes toward the land, flooding the proverbial sidewalk.
“There will be some breaks in between. It won’t be continuous flooding. But the cloud cover won’t drop a ton over the next few days as the atmospheric rivers will maintain that moisture.”
This November 19, 2024 satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows an atmospheric river flowing into Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. (NOAA via AP)
Next week’s atmospheric rivers are likely to move further south than those seen this week, hitting Northern California and Oregon the hardest. Los Angeles and San Diego both had a chance of moderate rain.
Unless it rains too hard and too soon, this week’s wet weather should mostly be beneficial for California. About 70% of California is considered “abnormally dry” by the U.S. Drought Monitor. “This will probably wipe out whatever extreme dryness is going on,” James said.
The National Weather Service warned of moderate and high flooding risk around Ukiah and Eureka in the northern part of the state.
“Rain is always welcome, but when it rains heavily for days on end, you end up with landslides and houses falling off cliffs,” James said.
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