Atmospheric River Pummeling California Seen From Space

Satellite imagery captured an atmospheric river pummeling Northern California and the Pacific Northwest on Sunday.

Why It Matters

After a series of back-to-back “rivers in the sky” in December, California hasn’t seen many, which typically plague the state during the winter months.

One such storm arrived in the Pacific Northwest over the weekend. The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Sacramento said its impact will continue to be felt over the next couple days, as residents in the stricken areas can expect heavy rain, snow and the threat of floods.

What To Know

On Monday, the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) at Colorado State University shared Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite imagery from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The time-lapse views showed a “prolonged atmospheric river” that brought heavy rain and high-elevation snowfall to the northwestern U.S. over the weekend.

Atmospheric rivers are 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 NOAA.

The storm arrived on Friday, saturating the northern half of California with heavy rain, as well as snow in higher elevations. Another atmospheric river is battering Northern California and expected to deliver challenges to the Golden State through this week.

Numerous weather alerts remain in place across California, Washington and Oregon. NWS meteorologist Sara Purdue told Newsweek that any of the weather alerts have the “potential to be dangerous.” On Tuesday, the alerts include a winter storm warning, winter weather advisory, flood warning and wind advisory, among others.

Two to 4 inches of rain are expected across Northern California, the NWS Sacramento office posted on X, as well as heavy snow in mountainous areas. Some northern parts of the Golden State could get walloped by 2 feet of snow from this storm.

What People Are Saying

An NWS forecast issued on Tuesday: “A prolonged atmospheric river event will continue to bring moderate to heavy rain with a risk for flooding to northern and central California with heavy mountain snow in the Sierras, southern Cascades, and northern Rockies through Wednesday.”

CIRA, in a post to X: “A prolonged atmospheric river event brings heavy precipitation to the northwestern portion of the US.”

What Happens Next

According to the NWS Climate Prediction Center, the entire Golden State is expected to experience near-normal precipitation for the next eight to 14 days, as below-normal temperatures are predicted for the same period.