A new storm is expected to bring more rain to California, sparking concerns of more floods on the heels of an extreme atmospheric river that devastated the state earlier this week.
The atmospheric river arrived on Sunday and wreaked havoc with severe rain, snow and high winds. The storm followed a similar system that brought a deluge of rain to the state last week, leading to saturated ground prone to flooding with the second system. Catastrophic flooding did occur, particularly in Los Angeles, where more than 7 inches of rain fell. Now, meteorologists are forecasting that another storm will arrive from the north by Wednesday afternoon.
Atmospheric rivers are defined as a "long, narrow region in the atmosphere—like rivers in the sky—that transport most of the water vapor outside of the tropics," according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
By Wednesday, the atmospheric river was working its way across the inland U.S. Southwestern states. However, California's respite from the rain won't be long, as another storm threatens more rain later in the day, AccuWeather reported.
The storm will impact California on Wednesday into the overnight hours, with some rain remaining through Thursday.
"Luckily, the precipitation amounts with this next incoming storm are not expected to be as high or as long a duration," AccuWeather meteorologist Brandon Buckingham told Newsweek.
However, the threshold for flooding is very low given the impacts from the atmospheric river. The new storm could cause more flooding, especially across southern California.
Rain will last for several hours as the storm moves through, and Buckingham said there's potential for thunderstorms as well.
However, since the new storm will approach California from the north instead of the south, there will be less rainfall than the atmospheric river produced. The incoming storm threatens up to an inch of additional rain in southern California as it moves down the coast.
"This storm path cuts off any tropical connection which led to the excessive and destructive conditions over the past several days," AccuWeather senior meteorologist Heather Zehr said in the report. "The prevailing wind direction also won't help to enhance the rain like we saw with this last storm."
Severe winds caused power outages for nearly one million people on Sunday night during the atmospheric river. At Ward Mountain, winds gusted as high as 162 miles per hour, nearing the state wind record of 199 miles per hour that was set in the same location in 2017.
The biggest concern with the incoming storm will be more flooding, since the ground is already saturated.
"The rain can also cause a return of standing water in areas that see some improvement," Zehr said.
A map published with the AccuWeather report showed that the storm will bring rain to the western half of California throughout the entire length of the state. Wind gusts up to 35 miles per hour also are expected as the storm moves through on Wednesday and Thursday.
Update 2/7/2024, 10:22 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include comment from meteorologist Brandon Buckingham.
About the writer
Anna Skinner is a Newsweek senior reporter based in Indianapolis. Her focus is reporting on the climate, environment and weather ... Read more
