What are atmospheric rivers? – NOAA

Atmospheric rivers are relatively long, narrow regions in the atmosphere – like rivers in the sky – that transport most of the water vapor outside of the tropics. These columns of vapor move with the weather, carrying an amount of water vapor roughly equivalent to the average flow of water at the mouth of the Mississippi River. When the atmospheric rivers make landfall, they often release this water vapor in the form of rain or snow…
‘Rivers in the Sky’: How Atmospheric Rivers Control Nearly All of Earth’s Precipitation – Popular Mechanics

“Atmospheric rivers are literally rivers in the sky, the rivers of water vapor that transport massive amounts of water in the atmosphere,” Marty Ralph, a hydrometeorologist, tells Popular Mechanics. Ralph is the founding director of the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, where he has pioneered research on how atmospheric rivers influence the West Coast…
What exactly is an Atmospheric River? – USGS Communication

Atmospheric rivers have been in the news a lot over the past couple of months, from a late October atmospheric river that brought record-breaking rainfall across Northern California to a mid-November storm that led to catastrophic flooding in Washington. A new atmospheric river storm is hitting the Western U.S. now and more are likely on their way. But what exactly is an atmospheric river?
Rivers in the Sky

Atmospheric rivers are relatively long, narrow regions in the atmosphere – like rivers in the sky – that transport most of the water vapor outside of the tropics. These columns of vapor move with the weather, carrying an amount of water vapor roughly equivalent to the average flow of water at the mouth of the Mississippi River. When the atmospheric rivers make landfall, they often release this water vapor in the form of rain or snow…
California faces weeks of cleanup as “one last” major storm lashes state – Axios

California was lashed by the final in a series of lethal atmospheric rivers Monday night — as officials warned it could take weeks to clean up the sustained heavy rains, snow and floods that’ve hit the state.
The latest: A mandatory evacuation order was issued for a flooded mobile home park in Acampo after 175 residents left voluntarily earlier Monday, per the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office…
California is emerging from a ‘parade of storms’ with recovery efforts across a ravaged state – NBC News

Snow piled up by the foot over the weekend on California peaks and mountain passes, closing roadways for avalanche control work, backing up traffic and forcing at least one ski resort, Sierra at Tahoe, to cancel its Monday operations despite “legendary” riding conditions…
California Storms Ease, but Flood Fears Persist – the Wall Street Journal

Heavy snowfall is raising concerns about the impact of the spring melt
California was hit again by rain and snow Monday as the state moved toward what forecasters said would be the end of a series of storms that have battered it since Christmas…
In California, a drought turned to floods. Forecasters didn’t see it coming – the Washington Post

Coming into this winter, California was mired in a three-year drought, with forecasts offering little hope of relief anytime soon. Fast forward to today, and the state is waterlogged with as much as 10 to 20 inches of rain and up to 200 inches of snow…The drought isn’t over, but parched farmland and declining reservoir levels have been supplanted by raging rivers and deadly flooding…
Getting Inside California’s Wild Weather 8 Miles Over the Pacific – the New York Times

A Times reporter and photographer rode along with a team gathering data on the colossal atmospheric rivers that have drenched the state…