Over 20 Trillion Gallons of Water are Expected to Fall on California Over the Next 2 Weeks
The early-winter storms continue to drench Northern California with precipitation, and it’s far from over. A series of atmospheric rivers are forecast to hit the region over the next two weeks, dropping an insane amount of snow and water in a state suffering from drought over the past decade.
Weather models are beginning to develop for the next 15 days and it reveals an incredible amount of water hitting California. In fact, the current models show more than 20 trillion gallons falling in that time frame. That’s enough water to cover a flat surface the size of California in over half a foot of water.
Here is the forecast from Michael Snyder:
22,400,000,000,000 gallons of water is a fairly conservative approximation of what will fall over the state of California over the next 15 days. That's 22 Trillion , 400 billion gallons! #cawx Too bad it cant all be caught and stored. pic.twitter.com/ZxeqvxBgS1
— Michael Snyder (@SeattleWXGuy) January 4, 2023
The arrival of this new precipitation may be great news for the longterm water outlook in California, but it may cause some issues in the immediate future. With groundwater already saturated throughout the state, widespread flooding is becoming a major issue. Towns in the Sacramento Valley recently saw devastating flooding during a category 5 atmospheric river, and major roadways have been forced to close due to flood risk. The storms will also bring nearly impossible mountain travel for the next few weeks, with the likelihood of more than 10 feet of snow in the next two weeks.
Ultimately, this is great news for California. In fact, if these storms can produce the amount of water predicted in these models, we may actually be out of the drought for the first time in years. Just be sure to stay safe during the storms.
