California has been slammed by storm after storm since late December, but it looks like the weeks of chaotic weather may finally be over soon.
Experts predict that the back-to-back storms may be ending this week. “We’re finally getting through the parade of storms,” said Michael Anderson, a state climatologist, according to NBC News. “We’re starting to see rivers work through final crests and begin receding.” In a Monday forecast, the National Weather Service said that the rain will likely end for the state this week. Los Angeles’ NWS account tweeted that this may be the “last hurrah of precipitation for a while.”
At latest 19 people have died as a result of the storms, the Los Angeles Times reports. Many of these deaths were a result of the widespread flooding and fallen trees. Residents have seen other dangerous conditions occur after so many days of extreme rainfall. Earlier this month, a large sinkhole in Los Angeles swallowed a car, temporarily trapping two people inside. The mother and daughter were rescued by firefighters. Last week, the National Weather Service issued flood watches for more than 34 million out of the 39 million people living in California. The series of storms also caused power outages for tens of thousands. As of this writing, there are about 20,000 customers in the state without power, according to Power Outage.us.
The series of storms has brought rainfall totals that would have been hard to imagine in the drought-stricken state last year. Counties across California have seen totals at 400% to 600% above average since the storms started a few weeks ago, according to the National Weather Service. This week began with more impressive precipitation. Areas like Modesto and Stockton saw record rainfall for January 16 according to a tweet from Sacramento’s National Weather Service.
It’s a far cry from how dry the state was this past fall. In October 2022 several counties in California were experiencing exceptional drought conditions. As of this week there are no exceptional or extreme drought conditions across the state, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The whiplash from drought to hazardous stormy weather conditions are yet another symptom of climate change. A 2018 study found that the climate crisis will take naturally occurring weather events like winter storms and periods of drought, and will make those conditions more extreme. Average weather events will become less likely over time.
