Why California Is Being Deluged by Atmospheric Rivers – Scientific American
California has been hit by repeated storms fueled by torrents of moisture called atmospheric rivers that will only intensify in a warming climate
California is taking a beating from what the National Weather Service has called a “seemingly never ending parade” of strong storm systems, which started late last December and are still coming. Called atmospheric rivers, they are long, narrow currents of exceptionally wet air that shoot across the ocean, capable of dumping massive volumes of rain or snow on landfall. Although these storms deliver much of the West’s precipitation, they also cause most of the region’s flooding, with associated economic damages as high as $1 billion a year…