Name: Atmospheric rivers bring dangerous flooding to California
Uploaded: 2025-12-23T05:49:34.480Z
Duration: 3 min 17 s
Description: From the days before Christmas to the day after, flooding, mudslides and feet of snow pose major risks to the Golden State, with some of the worst conditions expected on Christmas Eve.

From the days before Christmas to the day after, flooding, mudslides and feet of snow pose major risks to the Golden State, with some of the worst conditions expected on Christmas Eve.

California

Northern California has experienced severe flooding and heavy rainfall due to atmospheric rivers, leading to at least one confirmed death and numerous water rescues. Authorities have issued evacuations for areas near recent wildfire burn scars, including Pacific Palisades, as the risk of further flooding and landslides increases.

Flood watches extend from the Oregon border to Mexico, with forecasts predicting up to 8 to 12 feet of snow in the Sierra Crest and several inches of rain in major cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco. The worst impacts are expected around Christmas, with dangerous conditions anticipated for both lowland and mountainous regions.

Atmospheric rivers bring dangerous flooding to California

We're going to turn to the West Coast now where Northern California, like we were talking about, has been hit with heavy rain and flash flooding. More images here of what that looks like. But according to CNN, at least one death was confirmed in writing after a motorist got trapped in their flooded vehicle. Officials have also carried out dozens of water rescues and responded to numerous calls for stranded motorists. Unfortunately, the weather in the coming days may be even more dangerous. Jeff, we already have evacuations issued for recent burn scar areas, including the Pacific Palisades near L. A. But it's not just the burn scars were concerned about. That's a tough thing. Just people learning in the past hour or two. They will not be home for Christmas. They live in Pacific Palisades. Perhaps they rebuilt. Perhaps their neighborhood specifically may not have been as affected. You've been able to live there for the past eight or 12 months, maybe just a few months. Those neighborhoods downhill from the worst of the burn scar will be evacuated for the next 48 hours. Plus, we have a little bit of rain into Reno now, but we're gonna get back into this here. There is a there's a low pressure system up into an area southeast of the Gulf of Alaska, west of British Columbia. That is going to sink southward. We got the atmospheric river. We have subtropical moisture lifting north. All of that converging right over California. It's no surprise. Flood watches are in effect. In fact, part of the Oregon line all the way down to the Mexican border. Flood watches for the Golden State. Some of the snow is gonna be incredibly impressive. Over 6000 ft in elevation. Some of the Sierra Crest is gonna be buried in snow with 8 to 12 ft of snow over the course of about 7 to 10 days. So here's the big picture set of this Pacific moisture coming in from various angles all directed into California, gradually shifting south. But initially it becomes more of like a south to north moisture feed into Tuesday. There it is up in the northern California, kind of brushing northern California for a time. Then it all decisively wallops inland into California Tuesday night and then into Christmas Eve, soaking, drenching rain across all the southern and central California. Big time snow up in the mountains. It's gonna be a mess out there. But if you have that ski trip planned for the end of the month, maybe early January, this is gonna be to your benefit as long as you can get there. We do have many problems here with the foothills below 6000 ft. The west facing sides of the mountain seeing 8 to 12 inches of rain and where people actually live. We got another 4 to 8 inches coming to Redding, California, 2 to 4 coming to Sacramento, 2 to 4 inches for San Francisco. Some gusts up at Mount Shasta will see 70 to 80 MPH gusts. Some along the Sierra Crest could see gusts over 100 MPH easily with this setup, soaking rain, drenching rain on Christmas Day. The worst of this in L. A. And San Diego will probably be Christmas Eve through Christmas Day and tapering off into Boxing Day for our Canadian friends. But overall, look at the snowfall out there. 8 to 12 ft. That's feet, not inches above 8500 ft in elevation. A monumental snow event here. Snow levels are relatively high, though. So again, down into southern California, we're all about the rain here. 4 to 8 inches of rain in L. A. That's a big, big deal. More than a month's worth of rain here coming in just a few days. San Diego 1 to 2 inches, but a bigger deal. The Ventura County area in the mountains. Big problems there. Anna

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