This is wonderful! Obviously aside from the storm's threat to people's livelihoods (and lives), this is exactly what CA has desperately needed for some time now.
What if after this surge of storms, things go back to the way they were? Wouldn't that return California back to a position of hardship? Or is this so much rain that it can significantly mitigate issues going forward, even over a span of year(s)?
It will not be a big storm for SoCal. Still, LA could see an inch or two of rain while San Diego will see scant rain. But San Francisco is looking at 7" of rain in the next week and Sacramento at nearly 9".
Of course drought can return... but these kinds of storms only come seldomly and tend to have a long term effect. The problem is that CA needs more reservoir capacity...they will fill up but anything more will just wash out to sea.
Mudslides are gonna be bad along with lowland flooding in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys. Accuweather also wouldn't put "catastrophic flooding" on their infographic if this wasn't really serious.
And all during a La Niņa too! Ironically the last wet winter in CA was a La Niņa as well... El Niņo just doesn't deliver as much anymore.
Excellent post.
But yeah, this is what we call "The Pineapple Express", when what is really needed for anything long-term is the really cold stuff from the Northwest that'll cause a good snowpack in the Sierras.
