LOS ANGELES — A successive series of powerful atmospheric river storms poses a growing threat to California as the ground becomes more saturated, river levels rise and heavy winds threaten the power infrastructure.
This week's storms are expected to dump intense levels of rain in a fairly short period of time. The greatest potential for disaster is in Northern California, which has already been battered by several destructive storms — including one this weekend that caused a deadly levee breach. But each new storm, including one set to arrive Wednesday, adds new pressure.
"The main reason why this storm is going to have a larger impact than it would have had if it had happened two or three weeks ago is that it's rained a lot in Northern California already recently, so everything's really saturated," said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA.
