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…
Maps and charts show the awful impact of the California storms – the Washington Post
A parade of storms known as atmospheric rivers has dumped massive amounts of rain and snow on California since late December. The storms have produced deadly flooding, crippling snow, dangerous mudslides, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.
Atmospheric rivers funnel extreme amounts of moisture over the oceans into narrow bands of clouds. As these clouds are transported over land, they can produce many hours of intense rain and snow…