San Francisco’s ever persistent population march to its southern and western borders spelled the death knell for the most extensive open-water…
From
To
Atmospheric rivers are long and relatively narrow bands of water vapor that form over an ocean and flow through the sky. They carry moisture from the tropics to northern and southern latitudes, and can dump heavy rains or snow over land. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, they occur globally but are especially significant on the West Coast of the United States, where they create 30% to 50% of annual precipitation and are vital to water supplies but also can cause storms that produce flooding and mudslides.
Heavy rain and flash flooding have soaked roads in northern California, leading to water rescues and at least one confirmed death. Authorities say police in the city of Redding received numerous calls Sunday from stranded motorists who tried to drive through flooded areas. According to Mayor Mike Littau on Monday, one person died who was pulled out of a vehicle that was flooding. The National Weather Service expects more rain through the Christmas week and warns of potentially flooding, mudslides and rockslides. The flooding in California comes after stubborn atmospheric rivers drenched Washington state earlier this month.
I have been fascinated by weather my entire life. That fascination led me to study climatology, then into a career as a geologist studying how…
Roughly 73 square miles of ancestral homelands once belonging to California's Yurok Tribe have been returned to them. The land-back conservation project along the Klamath River, a partnership with the Western Rivers Conservancy, is being called the largest in state history and more than doubles the tribe's land holdings. The lands include important river tributaries, salmon habitat and areas of cultural and spiritual significance that the tribe will now manage and protect. The deal joins a growing Land Back movement of returning lands to Indigenous people, as well as mounting acceptance that their traditional ecological knowledge is critical to addressing climate change.
The U.N. weather agency is reporting that 2023 was the driest year in more than three decades for the world's rivers, as the record-hot year underpinned the drying up of water flows and contributed to prolonged droughts in many places. The World Meteorological Organization also says glaciers that feed rivers in many countries suffered the largest loss of mass in the last five decades. WMO warned that ice melt can threaten long-term water security for millions of people globally. Its secretary-general says water is the "canary in the coalmine" for climate change — a distress signal for a warming planet.
Looming La Niña climate conditions preceded by this year’s hot, dry summer could spell trouble for California’s water supply and increase the …
California's weather has calmed down after weeks of atmospheric rivers that slammed the state with damaging rains, wind and surf. Tallying the damage will take time, but a California Office of Emergency Services spokesperson says the number of homes and other structures that will be red-tagged as uninhabitable could be in the "low thousands." The damage is spread across 41 of California's 58 counties. Light rain and snow showers are lingering in some areas Tuesday, but skies are largely clear. The National Weather Service says there will be a shot of precipitation from a quick system on Wednesday into Thursday, followed by a dry period.
Featured
Another atmospheric river is expected to wash over the Bay Area this weekend, bringing significant risks of flooding in coastal areas and in s…
The biggest mystery in California’s struggle to maintain water supplies is what will happen to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
