Name: Atmospheric river affects West Coast
Uploaded: 2025-12-23T18:23:39.256Z
Duration: 2 min 14 s
Description: An influx of moisture from the deep Pacific combined with cold air originating from Alaska is expected to trigger flooding across parts of California, while higher elevations may face heavy snow accumulations.

An influx of moisture from the deep Pacific combined with cold air originating from Alaska is expected to trigger flooding across parts of California, while higher elevations may face heavy snow accumulations.

West Coast of the United States

A major atmospheric river is impacting the West Coast of the United States, bringing life-threatening flooding, heavy rain, and strong winds to California. The storm, intensified by cold air and energy from the Gulf of Alaska, is the first of two expected to affect the region through Friday.

Widespread flooding is forecast, particularly in burn scar areas, along with risks of rockslides, mudslides, and significant snowfall in the Sierra Nevada. Northern and central California are experiencing wind gusts up to 60 mph, while Southern California could receive up to 8 inches of rain, prompting warnings for residents to exercise caution.

Atmospheric river affects West Coast

life-threatening flooding across California Tuesday night, Wednesday and in the Thursday. All right, all the ingredients are available for the flooding rain. We begin with an atmospheric river. Look at that moisture surge coming in from the deep Pacific. You're going to pair that with an upper low that has cold air aloft and energy from the Gulf of Alaska. That's going to ride southeast and cause our storm to intensify as it moves toward California tonight. Now this is the first of two storms that will be impacting California from Tuesday night right until Friday. Heavy rain is going to be the big story here. There's going to be widespread flooding, especially in the burn scar areas. There's going to be rockslides, mudslides. I would not be surprised if we had road closures, especially the PCH. In addition to that, we're going to have lots of wind. Take a look at these wind gusts across mostly northern and central California. Many locations are going to have wind gusts 50 to 60 miles per hour at least. That's going to cause some downed trees, some downed power lines and some power outages. Now in the Sierra, snow's already been falling in the northern Sierra since Sunday night, up above 8,500 feet. By the time the snow ends, we're going to be looking at about 8 to 12 feet of snow. I wouldn't be surprised if someone closed in on 15 feet of snow in the highest elevations. If you're traveling through the mountain passes, wet travel Tuesday night and Wednesday, but then that second storm Thursday and the Friday brings snow levels down to below 5,500 feet, and that means two to four feet of snow through the passes. Donner Summit could get shut down Christmas night into Friday. And then we have the rain, and this is on top of the rain that we've already seen in northern California. Many locations get at least two to four inches of rain. Higher amounts in the mountains, and take a look at the rainfall amounts in Southern California. 48 inches of rain in the Southern California, in the Los Angeles Basin, with the threat of widespread flooding. Be careful with this storm.

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