Atmospheric River Event in Western U.S.: January 8th Update

 

Obtained on January 8, 2022 at 7:20 AM EST from the Weather Prediction Center's Facebook Page

I would like to thank a Meteorologist friend in California for giving me the heads up about the atmospheric river event forecast for early this coming week (January 9 -11).  I am very thankful for the graphic update on this atmospheric river event that I shared above as they talk about the entire state of California making it  easier to write this post. At my Meteorologist friend's suggestion, I have been following the following these National Weather Service Forecast Offices in California:

• NWS Forecast Office Los Angeles
• NWS Forecast Office San Joaquin Valley/Hanford
• NWS Forecast Office Sacramento
• NWS Forecast Office San Francisco Bay Area

I am going to continue to follow these four Weather Forecast Offices but may won't post updates from each office, at least for now. 

Those of you reading this while this before, during, or just after this latest atmospheric river event forecast for January 9 through 11 with local interests might want to follow one of these four NWS Forecast Offices and follow your local emergency management office for emergency updates. Please heed any evacuations and take any Weather Emergency Alerts (WEA) that you may get on your smart phones seriously. Remember, turn around and don't drown.

I won't to close by mentioning a good article on the Washington Post that dated January 6th by Matthew Cappucci. Mr. Cappucci is a Meteorologist for the Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang. Cappucci's article has the following headline "California’s not done. Three more atmospheric rivers are on the way. The strips of deep tropical moisture are deluging the state, causing flood concerns and mountain snows." I enjoyed reading Cappucci's article, finding the article very informative. He writes about what an atmospheric river is, including a graphic. He says in part:

Atmospheric rivers are narrow filaments of tropical moisture that can stretch thousands of miles or more. They’re often only a couple hundred miles wide, but may be transporting more than a billion pounds of moisture overhead every second. Much of that moisture remains as water vapor or condensate in the form of cloud cover, but some falls as rain or snow. Unsurprisingly, precipitation totals can climb quickly.

Most atmospheric rivers carry the bulk of their moisture a mile or so above the ground. That’s why the greatest totals of rain or snow are usually found in the higher elevations. Additionally, moist air forced up the mountains frequently cools to its dew point, becoming saturated and ridding itself of excess moisture in the form of heavy precipitation.

I will be keeping all who may be affected by the upcoming atmospheric river event in California in my thoughts and prayers. 

Note: I subscribe to the Washington Post and as a subscriber I can gift ten articles a month for ten days free access (which will run out on January 18th). It is my intention to use one of my gift articles to share Cappucci's January 6th article with you so you don't have to worry about a paywall. I hope this works out.