Atmospheric River California January 2024. A major atmospheric river storm slammed into southern california on thursday after hitting northern california hard the previous day. Atmospheric river sequences align with days when california faced extreme precipitation, extreme runoff and extreme soil moisture, the researchers found.

A series of about a dozen atmospheric river storms lashed california in rapid succession last winter, causing mass evacuations, power outages, levee breaches and road closures in a state long. Meteorologists forecast that the first half of winter will produce atmospheric rivers in the pacific northwest and northern california before the storms trek inward over the rocky.