Brace yourselves, Californians. Yet another atmospheric river is taking shape and preparing to slam the state.
During a press briefing Monday, state climatologist Michael Anderson said after a few days of clear weather late this week, another atmospheric river – or even two – are forecast to hit California between Sunday and Wednesday.
The impacted area, Anderson said, would likely be large, from the San Francisco Bay Area through metropolitan Los Angeles and all the way south to San Diego.
Meteorologists say it’s too soon to predict the exact timing of the storm, or which parts of the state it will hit hardest.
“We know there’ll be something. There is some activity out in the Pacific right now and models are trending to bring that closer to the California coast,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Eleanor Dhuyvetter. “What we don’t know is the exact track and intensity by the time it reaches us.”
Dhuyvetter said at this point, it’s not clear where the most intense rain will fall. “It could be Northern California, could be Southern California, or could be right smack dab in the middle.”
She said more precise details on storm timing and track should be clearer by the weekend.
Californians sick of the rain will have to hold on a bit longer. Brian Garcia, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Bay Area office, said it could be weeks or even months before we see prolonged stretches of dry weather.
“If we go deep into the crystal ball, then the week of the 27th we might have a few sunny days, but in all likelihood, we won’t dry out until we get deep into spring and early summer,” he told Nexstar last week. “This is a prolonged pattern that we are entrenched in and look to remain so for March and possibly into April.”
“Do not see this letting up anytime soon,” Anderson agreed.
As the rain continues, meteorologist John Shrable with Nexstar’s KRON said flooding will be a top concern, as already-soaked areas get pounded with even more rain.
“For areas that are already flooding this will be especially concerning with rising water levels yet again,” Shrable said. “Being another warm storm this will also likely result in more Sierra snow melt and runoff into reservoirs and streams.”