Parade of storms will pound California through next week following deadly bomb cyclone
At least three more atmospheric river storms are set to hit California from this weekend through next week. The FOX Forecast Center warned that it's becoming increasingly likely that the flooding from the strongest storm will be far more serious than anything experienced so far.
Rounds of heavy rain ongoing in California as another concerning system to arrive
The next round of heavier rain is beginning to move into far the northern Coastal Ranges of California and southern Oregon as another atmospheric river sets its sights on the state.
SAN FRANCISCO – The deadly bomb cyclone that produced flooding rain, debris flows, damaging winds and massive waves in California this week has dissipated off the West Coast, but a series of additional atmospheric river storms will continue to pound the Golden State from this weekend through next week.
This week's storm was blamed for at least two deaths in the San Francisco Bay Area. According to firefighters, a child was killed Wednesday inside a home hit by a falling redwood tree in the rural Sonoma County town of Occidental. In Fairfield, about 65 miles to the east, police said a 19-year-old woman was killed when her car hydroplaned on a partially flooded road and slammed into a utility pole.
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Image 1 of 6A damaged Valero gas station creaks in the wind during a massive "bomb cyclone" rain storm in South San Francisco, California on January 4, 2023. (JOSH EDELSON / AFP)
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Image 2 of 6San Francisco Department of Public Works employees use chainsaws to cut up a tree that was toppled by high winds on January 05, 2023 in San Francisco, California. (Justin Sullivan)
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Image 3 of 6A pedestrian walks on the street against heavy rain as a bomb cyclone hits California, bringing powerful winds and torrential rain on January 4, 2023 in San Francisco, California. (Liu Guanguan/China News Service/VCG)
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Image 4 of 6Cars run on the road against heavy rain as a bomb cyclone hits California, bringing powerful winds and torrential rain on January 4, 2023 in San Francisco, California. (Liu Guanguan/China News Service/VCG)
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Image 5 of 6People look on as a tow truck pulls a car out of a flooded intersection on January 04, 2023 in Mill Valley, California. (Justin Sullivan)
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Image 6 of 6Los Angeles, CaliforniaJan. 4, 2023Mathew Prado, who works at the Sheraton Hotel at Universal Studio, sweeps water from the front drive. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
There is scant hope for drier weather in California anytime soon, according to the FOX Forecast Center.
The next round of heavier rain moved into the coastal ranges of Northern California and southern Oregon on Friday afternoon, courtesy of another atmospheric river. This storm system will impact the region through Sunday.
(FOX Weather)
Rainfall could become hazardous and lead to scattered instances of flash flooding. The consistent stream of moisture being funneled out of the tropical Pacific Ocean will continue into Saturday as the rain gradually expands southward to Central California by Sunday.
An additional 3 to 6 inches of rain, with locally higher amounts, are possible and could worsen flooding concerns throughout what has become a very saturated region.
DEADLY BOMB CYCLONE WASHES AWAY POPULAR CALIFORNIA BEACH
(FOX Weather)
Additionally, the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada mountain range and Northern California will see more rounds of heavy snow. The heaviest snowfall is forecast to remain over the Northern California mountains on Saturday before eventually spreading south by Sunday.
Another major atmospheric river moving into California on Sunday
A series of impactful Pacific storms will continue to send multiple atmospheric rivers toward the state in the next week. The most concerning of these atmospheric rivers will move in Sunday night through Tuesday.
An even stronger atmospheric river storm expected early next week
Another extremely impactful atmospheric river will bring even more rain to California from Sunday night through Tuesday.
"We have this ridge of high pressure that is pretty much off of Baja in Mexico, and that is helping funnel in all of this tropical moisture from the Pacific, but also, it's acting as a conveyer belt to throw all of these areas of low pressure from the Pacific into the Northwest," FOX Weather meteorologist Britta Merwin said.
A parade of storms moving through the Pacific Ocean is set to impact the West Coast of the U.S.
(FOX Weather)
Unlike this weekend's storm, which will be focused across Northern and Central California, the one early next week will affect the entire Golden State. Heavy rain will pose a significant threat of flooding from the California-Oregon border southward to the Los Angeles Basin.
That's because this storm will have copious amounts of moisture with which to work, and the FOX Forecast Center warned that it's becoming increasingly likely that the flooding will be far more serious than anything experienced so far during the recent onslaught of storms over the past few weeks.
Given the saturated soils, streams and creeks could quickly flood, and all the water may eventually cause mainstream rivers to rise to levels that would result in widespread flooding across the northern half of California.
SEE SOME OF THE MOST CATASTROPHIC ATMOSPHERIC RIVERS AND FLOODING IN CALIFORNIA HISTORY
(FOX Weather)
Yet another storm eyes California later next week
As if that weren't enough, yet another round of rain and snow is expected to hit California later next week.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, between 4 and 8 inches of additional rain are expected to fall from this weekend through the end of next week across the lower elevations of Northern California. Even higher rainfall totals are predicted along the coastal ranges and the Sierra Nevada foothills, where 10 to as much as 20 inches of additional rainfall is possible during that time.
NEWEST WEATHER SATELLITE BECOMES GOES-WEST JUST IN TIME TO TRACK PARADE OF ATMOSPHERIC RIVERS
(FOX Weather)
Even Southern California could pick up 1 to 4 inches of additional rain in the lower elevations, with as much as 8 inches possible in the mountains surrounding the L.A. Basin.
"The overall rain forecast for the next seven days is taking into account multiple storms, and some of them will be producing some heavy rain," Merwin said.
Meanwhile, the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada will likely get blasted with 2-plus feet of snow – perhaps as much as 10 feet in mountains that see the most persistent and heaviest bursts of snow.
(FOX Weather)