- Another atmospheric river storm brought strong winds, rain and flooding to California this week, triggering levee breaches and mudslides and breaking decades-old rainfall records across the state.
- After two decades of drought, the West Coast is experiencing an unusually wet season.
- Nearly a dozen atmospheric rivers have led to higher levels of total snowpack and precipitation in many areas of the state not seen in decades.
This aerial photo shows cars and homes engulfed by floodwaters in Pajaro, Calif., on Saturday, March 11, 2023.
Josh Edelson | AFP | Getty Images
Another atmospheric river storm brought strong winds, rain and flooding to California this week, triggering levee breaches and mudslides and breaking decades-old rainfall records across the state.
The West Coast is experiencing an unusually wet season after two decades of drought. Nearly a dozen atmospheric rivers have led to higher levels of total snowpack and precipitation in many areas of the state not seen in decades.
Continued heavy rainfall has filled streams and rivers, and snowpack in the statewide Sierra Nevada, which contains about a third of California’s water supply, is now 178 to 272 percent of the seasonal average and is on track to be the highest on record by April.
Only about 36 percent of California now remains in drought, according to data from the U.S. Drought Monitor released Thursday. As the storms eased some water shortages, the Southern California Metropolitan Water District board recently lifted water restrictions for nearly 7 million people.
Governor Gavin Newsom this week toured the affected areas in Pajaro in northern Monterey County after the community suffered flooding from a levee breach on the Pajaro River. The governor noted that widespread damage across the state from winter storms is an indication of how climate change is causing weather extremes to worsen.
“If anybody has any doubts about Mother Nature and her fury, if anybody has any doubts about what’s going on in terms of what’s going on with the climate and the changes that we’re going through, come to California,” the governor said during a press conference .
The state’s emergency management agency and private forecasters estimated in January that damage from California’s winter storms could exceed $1 billion.
A neighborhood in Hillside Estates is flooded after heavy rains Tuesday evening, March 15, 2023, in Woodlake, California.
Gina Ferrazzi | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images
Watsonville, CA, March 14, 2023 – Stranded cars stand on Salinas Rd. in Pajaro on Tuesday after two powerful storms hit the area causing widespread flooding.
Wally Scally | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images
Madisyn Lyles, holding Luca, 1, watches with her husband Kaylan as two pumps continue to work throughout the day to remove flooding from their home after heavy rains Tuesday evening, March 15, 2023, in Woodlake, California.
Gina Ferrazzi | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images
Strawberry fields and roads fill with floodwaters as the Salinas River overflows, breaching levees during an atmospheric river storm that is hitting California again in Salinas, California on Tuesday, March 14, 2023.
Melina Mara | The Washington Post | Getty Images
An aerial view of flooded almond trees in Earlimart in Tulare County on March 11, 2023, as atmospheric river storms hit California.
Typhoon Koskun | Anatolian Agency | Getty Images
This aerial photo shows vehicles and homes engulfed by floodwaters in Pajaro, California, on Saturday, March 11, 2023.
Josh Edelson | AFP | Getty Images
A solo driver had to be rescued from this vehicle stuck in high water at Beach and 58th Street in Jurupa Valley on Wednesday morning, March 15, 2023.
Irrfan Khan | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images
A home is surrounded by flooding from the Pajaro River after days of heavy rain in Pajaro, California, March 15, 2023.
David Swanson | Reuters
Governor Gavin Newsom gives a press conference near the flooding in Pajaro after touring the affected areas in Pajaro in Monterey County, California, United States on March 15, 2023, as atmospheric river storms hit California.
Typhoon Koskun | Anatolian Agency | Getty Images
Patrick Cerutti (right) and his wife Pamela Cerutti take coins out of washing machines at the flooded Pajaro Coin Laundromat on March 14, 2023 in Pajaro, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Angels Hair Salon with its facade damaged is surrounded by rising waters from the Pajaro River in Pajaro, California, US, March 13, 2023.
Nathan Frandino | Reuters
Residents check the damage after the fast-moving and swollen Tulare River washed away parts of Globe Drive on March 14, 2023 in Springville, California.
Gina Ferrazzi | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images
An aerial view of four apartment buildings on the cliff side facing the ocean that were evacuated and tagged after heavy rains led to a landslide that left the rear of the buildings in danger of falling down the Buena Vista cliff in San Clemente Wednesday, 15 March , 2023 The bluff is still moving, officials said.
Alan J. Cockroaches | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images