The National Weather Service is warning citizens to get ready for a huge storm with high winds, snow, and “heavy to exceptional rainfall, flooding with debris flows and landslides” as California prepares to take the third strike from an atmospheric river since December 26.
According to Ward, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statewide emergency declaration on Wednesday morning to enable organizations to provide resources and assistance where it is most needed.
According to Jeffrey Mount, a water expert at the Public Policy Institute of California, California’s “semi-arid climate” is a “whiplash” that contributes to the state’s floods and unprecedented drought: The last three years in the state have been the driest on record, and if this year keeps up, we’ll have a year like 2017, which was the wettest.
The storm hit just days after the state faced severe flooding and significant snowfall during the long weekend, endangering travelers and resulting in hundreds of thousands of power disruptions. The heaviest precipitation will be fueled by an atmospheric river, or large plume of moisture, that is 2,500 miles away from the tropical Pacific Ocean.
Along The Northern Coast Of Central California, High-Wind Warnings Were Posted
Magnificent satellite imagery reveals the cyclone’s raw power as it spins off the shore. The mid-latitude cyclone is shaped like a classic comma, with a warm front bringing the initial wave of precipitation and a powerful cold front moving over the area Wednesday night.
There were high wind warnings posted along the coast of central California, from the Bay Area north to the far north of California, and even into Oregon. Gale-force gusts are anticipated to uproot trees, shear off limbs, and knock down power lines, disrupting electrical delivery in many locations, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
Due to bad weather, San Francisco’s transit system suspended its famous cable car service through Thursday, and San Francisco International Airport had to cancel a large number of commercial flights.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that at least one traffic fatality in the north Bay city of Fairfield was attributed to stormy weather. Pooled water on a road caused a car to crash, killing the driver.
A storm region of Alameda County, across the bay from San Francisco, received voluntary evacuation notices for properties along three roadways, citing concerns from “the impending storms, saturated soils, and existing runoff.”
