A series of back-to-back atmospheric rivers has drenched much of California since late December 2022, leading to floods, debris flows, road closures, and over a billion dollars of damage.
A series of back-to-back atmospheric rivers has drenched much of California since late December 2022, leading to floods, debris flows, road closures, and over a billion dollars of damage.
According to the National Weather Service, almost all of the state has received rainfall totals of 400-600 percent above average between December 26, 2022 and January 9, 2023. The latest storm hit particularly hard in Southern California. Over January 8-9, 2023, much of the region from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles received 3 to 7 inches (8 to 18 cm) of rain. Some areas of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties saw over 16 inches (41 cm) of rainfall in just two days.
These maps show a snapshot of surface soil moisture in the western United States on December 26, 2022 (left) and January 9, 2023 (right), as measured by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO) satellites. The colors depict the wetness percentile; that is, how the soil moisture on those days compared to long-term records (1948-2012) based on location and the time of year. Blue areas have more abundant water than usual, and orange and red areas have less.
Read more at: NASA Earth Observatory
Photo Credit: Lauren Dauphin
