'Pineapple Express' Triggers Floods in California, NASA Animation Shows

A NASA animation exhibits the atmospheric river's rainfall over California and the West Coast from Jan. 7 to Jan. 10.

Credit score: Joshua Stevens/NASA Earth Observatory

A distinct form of river has been winding over California in current weeks: NASA satellites spied a so-called atmospheric river passing over the state, bringing with it a deluge of stormy climate that has been flooding the West Coast.

For a couple of week, California and different elements of the western U.S. have been hit with rain and snow, inflicting extreme flooding of rivers and valleys. In accordance with NASA, the reason for the precipitation is called an atmospheric river, a jet stream of moist air that may stretch tens to tons of of miles extensive.

The storm system can carry as a lot water vapor as 15 instances the Mississippi River's movement, in keeping with the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). An atmospheric river, also called a "pineapple categorical" as a result of the storm system typically begins within the tropical Pacific, can convey 30 to 50 % of the western U.S.' annual rainfall, NOAA estimates.

A NASA animation exhibits the atmospheric river's rainfall over California and the West Coast from Jan. 7 to Jan. 10, as measured by satellites each 30 minutes. Vivid white spots within the animation present the place rainfall has been heaviest. As an example, 15 toes (four.6 meters) of snow fell on California's Mammoth Mountain, in keeping with the Nationwide Climate Service.

"San Francisco has seen extra rain within the first two weeks of 2017 than it did in all the yr of 2013," NASA officers wrote in a submit concerning the atmospheric river occasion.

The heavy rain and snow have prompted mudslides and floods, and have killed a minimum of 5 folks, The Climate Channel reported. California's iconic drive-through tree, the Pioneer Cabin Tree in Calaveras Huge Timber State Park, was toppled by the extreme storms. Meteorologists predict that the storms will proceed by the week.

The U.S. West Coast shouldn't be the one space to be hit by atmospheric rivers; an identical jet stream was discovered over Antarctica. This storm system strikes from the Indian Ocean to East Antarctica, bringing snow and moisture to the dry continent.

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