Bomb cyclone to unleash life-threatening flooding in California

 Thursday, January 5, 2023 

A major storm that will rapidly intensify and become a bomb cyclone off the coast of California will slam into the Golden State, unleashing an increasing risk for life-threatening flooding, damaging winds and power outages into Thursday.

The bomb-cyclone will affect California, United States just days after the deadly flooding and heavy snow that developed in the state over the holiday weekend, threatening travelers and causing hundreds of thousands of power outages.

The travel conditions will deteriorate rapidly over much of California during Wednesday night and may be difficult and dangerous in many areas by Thursday morning for a variety of reasons.

An atmospheric river, or massive plume of moisture originating from the tropical Pacific Ocean some 2,500 miles away, will fuel the heavy precipitation. Such a weather setup can lead to excessive rainfall and flooding, as well as a thump of snow that can shut down travel where the atmosphere is cold enough. In this particular case, the event can be classified as a Pineapple Express, since the plume of moisture originated from near Hawaii.

“There is a significant risk for flash flooding, and people should watch for and avoid rapidly rising water which can quickly become life-threatening,”, adding that flooding may result in street and highway closures. “This will be a dangerous and high-impact storm for California, capable of producing life-threatening conditions and significant disruption which may last several days.”

The mudslides are among the dangers that can persist for several days even after the rain ends, Porter explained.

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