Watch as California Gets Bombed

There is a view of water in the atmosphere obtained by the GOES-18 satellite. The impact of the atmospheric river storm can be seen in this combination. You can see an animation of the scene. SSEC Real Earth.

The Pacific Ocean's now-notorious "bomb" cyclone allied with a wavy jet stream has caused deadly torrents of precipitation and a battering by ferocious winds in California.

The atmosphere over the Pacific Coast may have held more than 220 million pounds of water in late December. It is possible that the storm approached that intensity.

It has already claimed two lives, including a young child, and as of Thursday morning, January 5, it was blowing the coast of California with Hurricane-force winds. A flood watch is in effect for almost all of the state.

Satellite images show the scope and power of the storm. The image at the top of this post combines an image from the GOES-18 satellite with NEXRAD radar data to show water in the atmosphere and the rate of rain. The latter is green and yellow.

A frame from an animation shows the storm's impact.

The storm battering California has a compelling view of the water in the atmosphere captured by the GOES-18 satellite. SSEC Real Earth.

The animation ends at the same time on the West Coast as it begins. There is a radar view of precipitation and water in the atmosphere.

A river of atmospheric water is being directed towards the Pacific Coast of North America by a broad satellite view of the bomb cyclone. The Credit is SLIDER/RAM MB.

The animation shows a broader view of the bomb cyclone as it helped direct the atmospheric river of moist air towards the Pacific Coast. 3 and runs until 12 p.m.

At least 1,400 miles of the Pacific was covered by the storm. The distance between Los Angeles and Omaha is about the same.

The storm has been carried across the Pacific by the jet stream. The high altitude river of air has allowed storms to pick up a lot of precipitation in the tropics.

According to Ryan Made, the jet stream and bomb cyclones are a runaway Pacific freight train loaded with water. The locomotive engine gets more fuel from climate change.

There is a storm on the way.