West Coast swept by atmospheric rivers bringing heavy rain and winds

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Atmospheric rivers are drenching the West Coast with heavy rain, winds, and snow throughout the week, experts say, after the region evaded a brutal winter storm that slammed most of the United States over the holiday weekend.

The first in a week of storms is bringing powerful winds and flood risks from Washington state down to California Tuesday into Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. All 11 states in the West are under weather alerts from the storm.

“Basically from Oregon southward into California is positioned right now in a place where a lot of moisture is being directed from the Pacific Ocean and it’s being directed right on into the terrain from the coastal ranges,” weather service meteorologist Richard Bann told USA TODAY.

Bann said the moisture will move from Northern California to the north of Los Angeles and continue into the Sierra Nevada, bringing a “decent amount of rain” that has been coming down since Monday night. Some places have already received up to an inch and a half of rain in an hour, according to Bann, which raises flash flooding concerns.

“It’s a very wet system,” Bann said.

The weather service said there were numerous reports of roadway flooding and downed trees as the storm moved through the San Francisco Bay Area early Tuesday. Pacific Gas & Electric’s website showed numerous power outages scattered across Northern California.

Winter storm warnings were also issued for the Sierra Nevada and motorists were advised that travel can be hazardous due to some ridgetop winds already hitting 120 mph.

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Path of the weather system

The storm will unleash heavy rain and mountain snow from Washington to California with rain showers moving southward into the middle of the week, AccuWeather said.

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