A different kind of river has been causing floods and blizzards in the West Coast. An atmospheric river, also called "pineapple express" has been bringing stormy weather to California and other western United States for a week. Weather data reveals that it caused 8 to 12 inches of rain on the high Sierra crest.
This has caused power outages in northern Sierra communities for more than a week now. However, California will need to get itself ready for another atmospheric river arriving next week. Another atmospheric river is expected to hit by Tuesday (Jan. 17). It will be weaker than the first but government official expect more flooding and mudslides.
"The next storm system will arrive sometime Tuesday night," Courtney Obergfell, meteorologist with the National Weather Service said according to The Sacramento Bee. He added the heaviest of the storm would be on Wednesday and Thursday in the Sacramento area.
Meanwhile, there is a wide range electricity outage in all of Truckee and the California side of Lake Tahoe after a large tree hit the main transmission line. Napa and Sacramento valleys were flooded due to heavy rain and snowmelt. Last week's pineapple express also caused one of California's strongest blizzard. It caused damage in highways and mountain passes and contributed to at least four deaths
"You're going to have now a massive amount of snow on the ground that the rain is going to essentially melt, so the chances of flooding and mudslides is going to be pretty high," Truckee Donner Public Utility District spokesman Steven Poncelet told the Los Angeles Times. Currently, at least 20 towns cities and counties have declared states of emergency.
Atmospheric rivers happen every year in the West Coast. Next week's pineapple express would be weaker than the storm last weekend. Weather forecasters described that it would be "more cold, less wet and not as powerful" as the previous one. It is expected to dump at least 2 to 4 inches of rain.
