California NWS: Here comes El Nino
Weather Story from NWS Oxnard, California highlights flooding rain potential in the coming week
Get ready to see those news stories about floods and mudslides in California again.
A series of storms is lining up in the Pacific to slam California in the next week. It looks like they'll be counting rainfall by the inch and snowfall by the foot. Coastal flood advisories and high wind warnings are in effect.
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A powerful jet stream is sending the storms toward the west coast. The jet stream, often called "The Pineapple Express" because of its tropical origins near Hawaii, is a common feature during El Nino winters.
The active storm pattern is a good news bad news scenario for Californians. The good news is this will bring much needed rainfall that will help crops and heavy mountain snow that will melt next spring replenish water supplies in California's reservoir system.
The bad news is this will likely lead to flooding and severe mudslides hillsides charred from last summer's severe wildfire season.
That's the thing about California. The weather is really nice most of the time. But when the weather is bad, it's really bad.
PH