California and North West To Expect Record Rain

According to an article on the The Weather Channel

Atmospheric River Soaking Ahead

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Snow and Rain Forecast

This graphic shows the forecast precipitation totals expected through next Monday. These forecast amounts are subject to change.

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Enhanced Satellite

Satellite image of the northeast Pacific Ocean.

Starting Thursday and continuing into early next week, a developing plume of moisture will douse Northern California and the Pacific Northwest with inches of rain and mountain snow.

(MAPS: Daily Forecast)

The weather systems impacting the West Coast during this time will tap into what meteorologists call an atmospheric river. This term is used to describe a long, narrow plume piping deep moisture from the tropics into the mid-latitudes. One type of atmospheric river you may have heard of is the "Pineapple Express," a pronounced plume tapping moisture from the Hawaiian Islands to the U.S. West Coast.

Computer model forecasts are indicating that some of the heaviest rain with this event will focus on northwest California and southwest Oregon, where total rainfall in the higher terrain could be up to 10 inches or higher. The precipitation forecast graphic we have displayed shows the heavy rain not only there, but up the coast in Oregon and Washington. Rainfall totals could also reach up to 10 inches in the Olympic Mountains of northwest Washington.