Report by Shuchi Giridhar
California has been experiencing a storm for the last few weeks. It has been raining heavily in California for the past few days including showers of hail and snow.
California has also been facing a drought since last year. Scientists debated whether the storm would solve the drought. But it has been concluded that the storm will have no effect on the drought.
California experienced a series of storm showers on New year’s Eve. After this the ongoing storms started around three weeks ago.
The storm was called the most impressive storm since 2005 by the National Weather Service. On Monday, 9th January, more than 16 inches of rain were recorded in some mountain areas.
Tuesday too brought flooding in many areas. The most affected areas were parts of the Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo and Santa Cruz counties. In Santa Barbara and Ventura, some mountain areas picked up almost 13 to 19 inches of rain.
The rains in California decreased around Wednesday 11th January. The previous downpours caused mud slides and flash floods around the state.
According to forecasters, the storm has been caused by concentrated moisture forming a narrow corridor known as an atmospheric river. This atmospheric river has been formed by moisture from the Pacific Ocean and moisture from burning of fossil fuels which causes heavy downpour of rain, hail, and snow resulting in the storm.
The downpour over California eased around the weekend. But a new atmospheric river has been formed. The forecast for the latest storm is heavy snowfall and rainfall with extra 1-3 inches of water in places where water is abundant.
On Monday 17th January, the ninth atmospheric river hit California. This caused it to snow heavily in Sierra Nevada. New orders of evacuation were also issued. Till now the storms have caused a halt in business, flooded homes and streets, uprooted trees, caused avalanches, and mudslides.
This weather phenomenon has also caused major evacuation and roadblock. A warning for a back country avalanche has been issued for greater Tahoe and central Sierra.
More recently the weather in California seems calm but around 41 of California’s 58 counties have seen extensive storm damage. Officials are now inspecting the damage in houses and tagging them accordingly. The uninhabitable houses are tagged with red tags and the ones in need of extensive repair are given yellow tags.
In Santa Barbara County, out of the 60 houses that were inspected, 32 were yellow tagged and 4 were red tagged. The National Weather Service said that these clear skies will be followed by a dry period.