Severe storms are set to pound California once again as an atmospheric river storm is forecast to settle over the state on Sunday, stretching into the week. The National Weather Service warned that conditions would be “drastically different” from Sunday morning to Sunday night, with the arrival of a strong storm expected to last through President’s Day. “Rain will begin around mid-day and will be heavy through the night. Moderate to major impacts rom this storm will last into Monday with heavy rain, strong winds, high surf, thunderstorms and flooding potential,” it said. The Department of Energy defines atmospheric rivers as “the large, narrow sections of the Earth’s atmosphere that carry moisture from the Earth’s tropics near the equator to the poles.” The imminent storm is the latest in an El Niño winter, which sees unusually high precipitation in a state infamously dogged by drought and other natural disasters. California, which is home to more than a tenth of the nation’s population, is also subject to landslides and extreme flooding as a result of heavy storms. Last month, monster waves overcame piers and created rivers in downtown streets after the storms struck.
