California Facing ‘Brutal’ Wind & Rain Impacts From Atmospheric Rivers

The US state of California is already facing flooding after torrential rains triggered by a first atmospheric river event that has driven storms and rainfall in from the Pacific, but forecasters are saying another ‘brutal’ period of wind and rain is expected to begin from Wednesday that could exacerbate the potential insurance market loss situation.

Flooding and landslides have already hit the state after the flow of atmospheric rivers of moisture began, triggered by a major extratropical storm system that has deepened offshore of the US in the Pacific.

San Francisco experienced its second wettest day on record already on New Year’s eve, resulting in flooding, power outages and landslides in mountainous surrounding areas, but with inches more rain now expected over the coming days the situation is expected to worsen.

The Bay Area National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Garcia explained, ‘To put it simply, this will likely be one of the most impactful systems on a widespread scale that this meteorologist has seen in a long while.

‘The impacts will include widespread flooding, roads washing out, hillside collapsing, trees down (potentially full groves), widespread power outages, immediate disruption to commerce, and the worst of all, likely loss of human life. This is truly a brutal system that we are looking at and needs to be taken seriously.’