Water Spouts, Flash Flood Warnings, it’s an Atmospheric River.
So we were warned, flash flood warning. We were expecting a worse rain event than we have gotten so far. I am not complaining. The damage has been spectacular north of us, in Los Angeles County. You can visit Patch for some of the photos.
In the meantime, we are having some issues south of the storm's core. However, we did have somebody die while attempting to cross the Tijuana River Valley.
While we got warnings from county and city officials, nature has, so far, spared San Diego, unlike two weeks ago. Why? It’s the nature of atmospheric rivers. They do have a more defined formation and carry a lot more water than they used to because it’s a warmer planet, and they form over warmer water.
So what are these?
An atmospheric river is a narrow corridor or filament of concentrated water vapor transported in the atmosphere. It’s like a river in the sky that can be 1,000 miles long. On average, atmospheric rivers have about twice the regular flow of the Amazon River.
When atmospheric rivers run up against mountains or run into local atmospheric dynamics and are forced to ascend, the moisture they carry cools and condenses, so they can produce intense rainfall or snowfall.