It was a powerful, devastating cyclone.
A rare mid-latitude storm, a comma-shaped storm that formed in the middle latitudes, deluged large parts of the West Coast with torrential rains over the weekend. Some rainfall, like in Sacramento, broke records.
These cyclones are composed of air and clouds moving around an area with low atmospheric pressure and a large amount of moisture (water vapour) wrapping around the late October storm. The storm's powerful moisture band, which was aptly called an "atmospheric rivers", dumped torrential rains. The water poured through the Sierra Nevada, which was already suffering from drought. It also caused major landslides and dropped much-needed snow.
Satellite images taken by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellites show vivid images showing the powerful, counter-clockwise spinning Cyclone that traveled further inland on Monday.
California's most important weather events are the atmospheric rivers. They provide about half of the state's water supply. However, their frequency can fluctuate greatly from year to year, leading to periods of extreme drought or extremely wet seasons.
In a world that is constantly warming, extremes are getting more extreme. Droughts are getting more severe and hotter, while powerful storms are dumping greater amounts of destructive rains. Warmer atmosphere holds more water. For every 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit warming or one degree Celsius, the atmosphere holds approximately seven percent more water vapour. This increases the likelihood of severe storms dropping significantly more precipitation.
Mashable's climate scientist Daniel Swain from the National Center for Atmospheric Research stated that "you're raising the ceiling for precipitation potential." "Atmospheric rivers are going to be more intense and delivering more water."
Scientists at the atmosphere expect California's water cycle will become more extreme and volatile with increasing temperatures. This is one vivid example of the recent storm that occurred amid a drought.
"It is worth noting that this exact situation an extremely strong atmospheric river bringing [a] brief period of record rainfall in midst of [a] severe and temperature-amplified drought is what we expect to see in California with #ClimateChange," Swain tweeted on Sunday.
