#extremeatmosphericrivers — Public Fediverse posts

Not over yet: Historic #AtmosphericRiver won’t be the last of the rain in #California

Millions of people in California won’t get a break in the stormy pattern with a renewed risk of flooding on the horizon right on the heels of a devastating system that wrecked havoc across the state.

By Renee Duff, AccuWeather meteorologist

Published Feb 6, 2024 10:30 AM EST | Updated Feb 8, 2024 5:41 AM EST

"AccuWeather estimates that the preliminary total damage and economic loss from the intense storms and record rainfall in #California this week will be between $9 billion and $11 billion.

"At midweek, the historic storm that brought devastation to #SouthernCalifornia was slowly pivoting inland across the #SouthwesternUnitedStates. Meanwhile, a new storm began to drop southward off the coast of #WesternCanada. The storm began to pummel #NorthernCalifornia first thing Wednesday morning with low-elevation rain and mountain snow."

https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-forecasts/not-over-yet-historic-atmospheric-river-wont-be-the-last-of-the-rain-in-california/1619562

#ClimateCrisis #ClimateChange #ClimateCatastrophe #ExtremeWeather #ExtremeAtmosphericRivers

Intense #AtmosphericRiver brings #flood danger to #California

By Antoinette Radford, Zoe Sottile and Matt Meyer, CNN
Updated 0111 GMT (0911 HKT) February 5, 2024

What we're covering

- More than half a million California power customers face outages as an intense atmospheric river lashes the state with heavy rain and strong winds. Forecasters warn that potentially life-threatening flooding and #mudslides will follow.

- A #FlashFlood warning is in effect for parts of the southern and central coast, including areas in #LosAngeles, where officials warned of one of the "most dramatic weather days in recent memory." More than a month's worth of rain could fall by the time the bulk of the storm has passed on Tuesday.

- This system comes after an earlier storm already unleashed record rainfall in some parts of the region.

Read more:
https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/california-atmospheric-river-storms-flooding-rain-02-04-24/index.html

#ExtremeAtmosphericRivers #ClimateCrisis #ClimateChange #ClimateCatastrophe

37 million at risk for #flooding from blockbuster #California rainstorm

The second and stronger storm of a one-two punch will blast California with torrential rain, flooding and feet of snow.

By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist

Published Feb 2, 2024 11:43 AM

"Hot on the heels of a drenching storm and a low-end #AtmosphericRiver that affected California from Wednesday to Thursday, a more potent storm and high-end atmospheric river will roll ashore Saturday night and Sunday with major impacts that will threaten lives, property and travel into next week, AccuWeather meteorologists continue to warn.

"Public awareness and storm readiness are strongly encouraged as life-threatening conditions may evolve in some communities.

"'Roughly 94% of California's population, up to 37 million people, is at risk for flooding, some of which can be life-threatening. Due to the numerous mountains and hills, even just a few inches of rain can cause significant flooding,' AccuWeather Senior Director of Forecasting Operations Dan DePodwin stated.

"'The greatest risk of a widespread flooding disaster is expected across the canyons and hills of Southern California, especially in Ventura, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties,' DePodwin added.

Blockbuster rainstorm, major flooding to unfold

"Because the new storm, packing much more moisture, will hit only a couple of days after the first storm soaked and #saturated much of the state, runoff will be rapid and potentially dangerous and destructive, especially in portions of Southern and Central California, where most of the new rain is likely to fall.

"The first storm brought a general 1-6 inches of rain from Wednesday to Thursday. However, starting as early as Saturday night, more than double the amount of rain may fall from the new storm, with some of the rainiest spots picking up a foot or more of rain in only 48 hours."

Source:
https://www.accuweather.com/en/severe-weather/37-million-at-risk-for-flooding-from-blockbuster-california-rainstorm/1618504

#ExtremeWeather #ExtremeAtmosphericRivers #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateCatastrophe

Monster #Pacific storm to 'firehose' #California with rain, flooding and wind

As benign weather settles in over much of the United States this week, a powerful storm is brewing for California with enough rain on the way to trigger flooding and provide a boost in snow for the mountains.

By Alex Sosnowski
Published Jan 29, 2024

"A potent storm with plenty of moisture will throw heavy rain and gusty winds at the West Coast of the United States this week, with most of the focus on California from Wednesday to Thursday. As AccuWeather meteorologists have warned since mid-January, the upcoming storm will trigger an #AtmosphericRiver that can bring rain heavy enough to trigger #flooding, #mudslides and major travel disruptions.

"The storm will approach midweek after a potent winter storm pushes inland over #BritishColumbia, producing showery rain and mountain snow in the Northwest into Tuesday.

"This new storm will deliver a narrow zone of intense rain, or an atmospheric river, from well out over the Pacific and toward coastal areas of California. The firehose effect of rain will shift southward from Northern California on Wednesday to Southern California on Thursday.

"The storm will create significant disruptions for travel across a good portion of the state from Wednesday through Thursday as the heavy rain spreads southward, AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Heather Zehr said.

"'Several inches of rain is likely to fall all along the Central California coast, and persistent southwesterly breezes associated with the atmospheric river to bring widespread 1-2 inch amounts to Southern California,' Zehr said.

"Some areas, especially along the west- and southwest-facing mountainsides in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, will get locally higher totals, perhaps exceeding 4 inches. The AccuWeather Local StormMax™ is 7 inches."

Read more:
https://www.accuweather.com/en/winter-weather/monster-pacific-storm-to-firehose-california-with-rain-flooding-and-wind/1617049

#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ExtremeAtmosphericRivers #ExtremeWeather

"Precipitation enhancement in these areas [#PacificNorthwest, #NorthAtlantic coast of #Europe] can reach as high as 200–300%" !!!

[Open Access article] #ExtremeAtmosphericRivers in a warming #climate

By Shuyu Wang, Xiaohui Ma, Shenghui Zhou, Lixin Wu, Hong Wang, Zhili Tang, Guangzhi Xu, Zhao Jing, Zhaohui Chen & Bolan Gan
Published: 03 June 2023
Nature Communications

"Global response of landfalling extreme ARs to #anthropogenic warming

"ARs can induce extreme precipitation when making landfall, especially in high topography areas. Figure 4 shows the landfalling EAR response to global warming in the North Pacific (NP), North Atlantic (NA), and South Pacific (SP) in HR CESM (the number of EARs landfalling along the east coast of the South Atlantic is small and is not shown here). Consistent with the overall EAR changes, future landfalling EARs are also significantly enhanced with an even stronger amplification (Fig. 4a–f). Compared to HR-HIS, the accumulated IVT and precipitation associated with landfalling EARs in HR-RCP are generally increased by a factor of two in 2050–2100 (Fig. 4a–i). Also, it is evident that the landfalling EARs induced precipitation relies heavily on topographical lifting, and the precipitation enhancement in these areas can reach as high as 200–300% (Fig. 4g–i). The results suggest a higher amplification rate of landfalling EARs (~threefolds) than global EARs (~twofolds) in a future warming climate and it is these landfalling EARs that will cause severe hydrological hazards and directly impact the coastal regions."

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-38980-x

#Weather #Climate #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #AtmosphericRiver #ExtremeWeather #ExtremeAtmosphericRivers

Summary: There may be fewer atmospheric rivers because of climate change, but the ones that occur will be extreme.

NASA: #ClimateChange may lead to bigger #AtmosphericRivers

By Esprit Smith,
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
May 24, 2018

"A new NASA-led study shows that #ClimateChange is likely to intensify #ExtremeWeather events known as atmospheric rivers across most of the globe by the end of this century, while slightly reducing their number.

"The new study projects atmospheric rivers will be significantly longer and wider than the ones we observe today, leading to more frequent atmospheric river conditions in affected areas.

"The results project that in a scenario where greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current rate, there will be about 10 percent fewer atmospheric rivers globally by the end of the 21st century,' said the study's lead author, Duane Waliser, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. 'However, because the findings project that the atmospheric rivers will be, on average, about 25 percent wider and longer, the global frequency of atmospheric river conditions -- like #HeavyRain and #StrongWinds -- will actually increase by about 50 percent.'

"The results also show that the frequency of the most intense atmospheric river storms is projected to nearly double.

"Atmospheric rivers are long, narrow jets of air that carry huge amounts of water vapor from the tropics to Earth's continents and polar regions. These 'rivers in the sky' typically range from 250 to 375 miles (400 to 600 kilometers) wide and carry as much water -- in the form of water vapor -- as about 25 Mississippi Rivers. When an atmospheric river makes landfall, particularly against mountainous terrain (such as the Sierra Nevada and the Andes), it releases much of that water vapor in the form of rain or snow.

"These storm systems are common -- on average, there are about 11 present on Earth at any time. In many areas of the globe, they bring much-needed precipitation and are an important contribution to annual freshwater supplies. However, stronger atmospheric rivers -- especially those that stall at landfall or that produce rain on top of snowpack -- can cause disastrous #flooding.

"Atmospheric rivers show up on satellite imagery, including in data from a series of actual atmospheric river storms that drenched the U.S. West Coast and caused severe flooding in early 2017."

Read more: https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2740/climate-change-may-lead-to-bigger-atmospheric-rivers/

#Weather #Climate #GlobalWarming #AtmosphericRiver #ExtremeWeather #ExtremeAtmosphericRivers