California to Get Drenched From Fast-Moving Atmospheric River

A fast-moving atmospheric river coming off the Pacific Ocean will drench northern and central California on Wednesday and then head for the the southern half of the state.

Northwest California will likely get the worst of the storm, with as much as 3 to 6 inches of rain, according to Bob Oravec, a senior branch forecaster at the US Weather Prediction Center. The central and southern portions of the state will receive 1.5 to 2 inches. The storm will blow through most areas in about 6 hours, limiting total rainfall.

“The one beneficial thing is that it’s moving quick and won’t be a multi-day event. It should be in and out in less than a day,” he said. “That’s something that will keep the precipitation totals from being super heavy.”

However, California is already close to being saturated from previous storms, so there’s a danger from landslides and flooding, according to the National Weather Service.

Creeks and streams may rise quickly as the rain comes down, especially in in Sonoma and Santa Cruz counties, the agency said in a hydrologic outlook. Steep hillsides in the San Francisco Bay area will be at risk of mudslides, and the storms will also bring the danger of power outages as they roar through.

Heavy rain will shift into Southern California Thursday and then push east, Oravec said. The system will deliver heavy rain to Texas and parts of the South over the weekend, the same region that’s faced flooding from other recent storms.

Top photo: The downtown skyline is viewed during a clearing storm on January 22, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)