As benign weather settles in over much of the United States this week, a powerful storm is brewing for California with enough rain on the way to trigger flooding and provide a boost in snow for the mountains.
A potent storm with plenty of moisture will throw heavy rain and gusty winds at the West Coast of the United States this week, with most of the focus on California from Wednesday to Thursday. As AccuWeather meteorologists have warned since mid-January, the upcoming storm will trigger an atmospheric river that can bring rain heavy enough to trigger flooding, mudslides and major travel disruptions.
The storm will approach midweek after a potent winter storm pushes inland over British Columbia, producing showery rain and mountain snow in the Northwest into Tuesday.
This new storm will deliver a narrow zone of intense rain, or an atmospheric river, from well out over the Pacific and toward coastal areas of California. The firehose effect of rain will shift southward from Northern California on Wednesday to Southern California on Thursday.