An atmospheric river will bring severe weather to central and southern California through Friday this week, prompting meteorologists to issue warnings about the storm.
Why It Matters
National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologists in California have already been warning of the impacts associated with the storm this week, particularly for Southern California, where burn scars from recent wildfires are at a significant risk for debris flows with the heavy rain.
Impacts are also expected in Central California, with meteorologists at the NWS office for the Bay Area naming rain, wind and floods as the major hazards affecting the area.
What to Know
On Wednesday, NWS Bay Area posted three maps to X outlining the expected impacts from the incoming atmospheric river.
California Heavy Rain
For the rainfall totals map, meteorologists warned that up to 3.5 inches of rain could fall in the Bay Area through Friday. The North Bay was expecting 2 to 3 inches, and the Central Coast was expecting 1.5 to 3.5 inches. Much higher rainfall totals are expected for mountainous regions, with up to 8 inches forecasted.
California Flood Watch
Another map showed the areas under a flood watch. The flood watch extends from Cloverdale south to Bradley and includes areas like Santa Rosa, Napa, Concord, San Francisco and Monterey.
The flood watch will go into effect at 10 p.m. local time on Wednesday night. It will expire by 10 p.m. Saturday.
California Wind Impacts
The last map outlined areas included in an NWS wind advisory and high wind warning…