An atmospheric river is sending rain Sacramento’s way this week, dropping as much as 4 feet of snow in the Sierra and giving a little bit of relief to Californians concerned about another drought.
A wet March so far has aided the Sacramento Valley in inching closer to the average totals for the water year.
The atmospheric river will no doubt help, but you’re probably wondering: What is an atmospheric river, anyway?
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration define them as “relatively long, narrow regions in the atmosphere – like rivers in the sky – that transport most of the water vapor outside of the tropics.”
For California, this means that streams of moisture are being pulled by wind from the tropics to the West Coast.
Impressive three day rainfall amounts over Northern California! #cawx pic.twitter.com/kRWqidwMg9
— NWS Sacramento (@NWSSacramento) March 23, 2018
…snip…
How about some examples?
Pineapple Express is one of the better-known types of an atmospheric river. It takes moisture streams from Hawaii to California and nearby states and is one of the stronger AR systems.
That’s the type heading for the Bay Area, as well as parts of Southern California, this week.
Other quick facts
As explained by NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory: Atmospheric rivers are an important part of Earth’s water system and must exist somewhere on earth at any given time. A handful of them account for as much as half of some West Coast states’ annual rainfall totals; therefore, they are critical to California’s water supply.
Read full article at Sacramento Bee
Here’s hoping Moonbeam Brown gets flooded out of his office here’s hoping it clean up the mess liberal democrats are leaving behind them