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An atmospheric river ( AR ) is a narrow corridor or filament of concentrated moisture in the atmosphere . Other names for this phenomenon are tropical plume , tropical connection , moisture plume , water vapor surge , and cloud band .

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53-538: Pineapple Express is a specific recurring atmospheric river both in the waters immediately northeast of the Hawaiian Islands and extending northeast to any location along the Pacific coast of North America. It is a non-technical term and a meteorological phenomenon. It is characterized by a strong and persistent large-scale flow of warm moist air, and the associated heavy precipitation. A Pineapple Express

106-674: A 2013 study. The Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA) report, released by the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) on November 23, 2018 confirmed that along the U.S. western coast, landfalling atmospheric rivers "account for 30%–40% of precipitation and snowpack. These landfalling atmospheric rivers "are associated with severe flooding events in California and other western states." The USGCRP team of thirteen federal agencies—the DOA , DOC , DOD , DOE , HHS , DOI , DOS , DOT , EPA , NASA , NSF , Smithsonian Institution , and

159-632: A Pineapple Express event heavily impacted the Puget Sound region from Bellingham, Washington into the British Columbia Interior and the Lower Mainland from 14–15 November. At the peak of the rainstorm on 15 November, Bellingham received 2.78 inches (71 mm) of rain while Hope, B.C. measured rainfall of 277.5 millimetres (10.93 in) from 14–15 November. The resulting floods and ensuing mass wasting events forced

212-567: A Pineapple Express feature struck California , resulting in snow , wind , and flood watches . A blizzard warning was issued by the National Weather Service for the Northern Sierra Nevada for the first time in California since October 2009 and January 2008. The storm caused power outages for more than 50,000 people. It was thought to be the most powerful storm to impact California since

265-485: A decade" on 8 November 2006. Portions of Oregon were also affected, including over 14 inches (360 mm) in one day at Lees Camp in the Coast Range, while the normally arid and sheltered Interior of British Columbia received heavy, coastal-magnitude rains. In December 2010, a Pineapple Express system ravaged California from 15–22 December, bringing with it as much as 2 feet (610 mm) of rain to

318-463: A perfect case study to show the importance of proper water management and prediction of these storms. The significance that atmospheric rivers have for the control of coastal water budgets juxtaposed against their creation of detrimental floods can be constructed and studied by looking at California and the surrounding coastal region of the western United States. In this region atmospheric rivers have contributed 30–50% of total annual rainfall according to

371-412: A series of successive Pineapple Express related storms that caused massive flooding in all major regional rivers and mudslides which closed the mountain passes. These storms included heavy winds which are not usually associated with the phenomenon. Regional dams opened their spillways to 100% as they had reached capacity because of rain and snowmelt. Officials referred to the storm system as "the worst in

424-619: A specific air column (integrated water vapor – IWV). In addition, IVT is more directly attributed to orographic precipitation , a key factor in the production of intense rainfall and subsequent flooding. The Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E) at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography released a five-level scale in February 2019 to categorize atmospheric rivers, ranging from "weak" to "exceptional" in strength, or "beneficial" to "hazardous" in impact. The scale

477-457: A team led by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 's (NOAA) Paul J. Neiman, concluded in 2011 that landfalling ARs were "responsible for nearly all the annual peak daily flow (APDF)s in western Washington" from 1998 through 2009. According to a May 14, 2019 article in San Jose, California 's The Mercury News , atmospheric rivers, "giant conveyor belts of water in the sky", cause

530-763: Is a mountain pass in the Santa Ynez Mountains in southern California . It is traversed by State Route 154 . The pass crosses the Santa Ynez through a southwestern portion of Los Padres National Forest , and connects Los Olivos (and the Santa Ynez Valley ) with Santa Barbara, California along the Pacific coast. The road has been designated as a daylight-headlight highway by the California Highway Patrol and Caltrans because of frequent accidents, particularly around

583-524: Is an example of an atmospheric river, which is a more general term for such relatively narrow corridors of enhanced water vapor transport at mid-latitudes around the world. A Pineapple Express is driven by a strong, southern branch of the polar jet stream and is marked by the presence of a surface frontal boundary which is typically either slow or stationary, with waves of low pressure traveling along its length. Each of these low-pressure systems brings enhanced rainfall. The conditions are often created by

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636-556: Is described as "virtually impassable." The San Marcos Hot Springs , also known as the Mountain Glen Hot Springs, were located on the north side of the mountains "near the stage road over the San Marcos Pass." No shots were fired during this "battle", which consisted solely of John C. Frémont 's California Battalion crossing the mountains via San Marcos Pass on the night of December 24, 1846, during

689-567: The Fraser River Basin (FRB), a "snow-dominated watershed" in British Columbia, is exposed to landfalling ARs, originating over the tropical Pacific Ocean that bring "sustained, heavy precipitation" throughout the winter months. The authors predict that based on their modelling "extreme rainfall events resulting from atmospheric rivers may lead to peak annual floods of historic proportions, and of unprecedented frequency, by

742-580: The Great Flood of 1862 . Both the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys flooded, and there was extensive flooding and mudslides throughout the region. The San Francisco Bay Area is another locale along the Pacific Coast which is occasionally affected by a Pineapple Express. When it visits, the heavy, persistent rainfall typically causes flooding of local streams as well as urban flooding . In

795-778: The January ;2010 California winter storms . A rare tornado touched down in Los Angeles on 12 December. Historically strong storms associated with the Pineapple Express brought flooding and mudslides to California, particularly the San Francisco Bay Area , destroying homes and closing numerous roads, including State Route 17 , State Route 35 , State Route 37 , Interstate 80 , State Route 12 , State Route 1 , State Route 84 , State Route 9 and State Route 152 . The storm brought major snow to

848-460: The Madden–Julian oscillation , an equatorial rainfall pattern which feeds its moisture into this pattern. They are also present during an El Niño episode. The combination of moisture-laden air, atmospheric dynamics, and orographic enhancement resulting from the passage of this air over the mountain ranges of the western coast of North America causes some of the most torrential rains to occur in

901-616: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the early 1990s to reflect the narrowness of the moisture plumes involved. Atmospheric rivers are typically several thousand kilometers long and only a few hundred kilometers wide, and a single one can carry a greater flux of water than Earth's largest river, the Amazon River . There are typically 3–5 of these narrow plumes present within a hemisphere at any given time. These have been increasing in intensity slightly over

954-589: The Mexican–American War . At that time the Pass was only a path, and a rough one at that. It was a rainy night, and while Frémont's battalion had lost 150 horses and mules from sliding down the muddy slopes during the crossing, the exhausted men were able to reach the Goleta Valley foothills by the next morning, where they camped for two days. On December 27, 1846, they entered into Santa Barbara and ran up

1007-688: The San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County was deluged with 31.61 inches (803 mm) of rain in the five-day period. In some areas the storm was followed by over a month of near-continuous rain. The unusually intense rainstorms that hit south-central Alaska in October ;2006 were called "Pineapple Express" rains locally. The Puget Sound region from Olympia, Washington to Vancouver, British Columbia received several inches of rain per day in November ;2006 from

1060-557: The Sierra Nevada and San Gabriel Mountains . A state record was recorded with places on the Sierra reaching up to 800 inches (20 m) of snow. The storm also brought not only significant flooding to the Los Angeles area and most of southern California (killing about 3 people), but also significant severe weather in that area. A powerful winter storm channeled a Pineapple Express into California from 26–29 January. One person

1113-662: The US Army Corps of Engineers , which analyzed data from the National Flood Insurance Program and the National Weather Service . Just twenty counties suffered almost 70% of the damage, the study found, and that one of the main factors in the scale of damage appeared to be the number of properties located in a flood plain . These counties were: According to a January 22, 2019 article in Geophysical Research Letters ,

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1166-637: The USAID —with the assistance of "1,000 people, including 300 leading scientists, roughly half from outside the government" reported that, "As the world warms, the "landfalling atmospheric rivers on the West Coast are likely to increase" in "frequency and severity" because of "increasing evaporation and higher atmospheric water vapor levels in the atmosphere." Based on the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) analyses,

1219-466: The "prevalence and role" of atmospheric rivers. Prior to the use of these satellites and sensors, scientists were mainly dependent on weather balloons and other related technologies that did not adequately cover oceans. SSM/I and similar technologies provide "frequent global measurements of integrated water vapor over the Earth's oceans." San Marcos Pass San Marcos Pass ( Chumash : Mistaxiwax )

1272-473: The "swings between heavy rain and raging wildfires" are raising questions about moving from "understanding that the climate is changing to understanding what to do about it." Atmospheric rivers have caused an average of $ 1.1 billion in damage annually, much of it occurring in Sonoma County , California, according to a December 2019 study by the Scripps Institution on Oceanography at UC San Diego and

1325-474: The 10 highest daily precipitation records in the period 1979–2011 have been associated with atmospheric rivers events in areas of Britain, France and Norway. According to a 2011 Eos magazine article by 1998, the spatiotemporal coverage of water vapor data over oceans had vastly improved through the use of "microwave remote sensing from polar-orbiting satellites", such as the special sensor microwave/imager (SSM/I). This led to greatly increased attention to

1378-861: The 1800s occurred in 1955 as a result of a series of Hawaiian storms, with the greatest damage in the Sacramento Valley around Yuba City . A Pineapple Express related storm battered Southern California from January 7–11, 2005. This storm was the largest to hit Southern California since the storms that hit during the 1997–98 El Niño event . The storm caused mud slides and flooding , with one desert location just north of Morongo Valley receiving about 9 inches (230 mm) of rain, and some locations on south and southwest-facing mountain slopes receiving spectacular totals: San Marcos Pass , in Santa Barbara County , received 24.57 inches (624 mm), and Opids Camp (AKA Camp Hi-Hill ) in

1431-405: The 2018-2019 rainy season the wettest in the past half century, a sharp contrast with the prior year, which was the driest over the same period. Thus, this event is a compelling example of rapid dry-to-wet transitions and intensification of extremes, potentially resulting from the climate change. In Australia, northwest cloud bands are sometimes associated with atmospheric rivers that originate in

1484-561: The Indian Ocean and cause heavy rainfall in northwestern, central, and southeastern parts of the country. They are more frequent when temperatures in the eastern Indian Ocean near Australia are warmer than those in the western Indian Ocean (i.e. a negative Indian Ocean Dipole ). Atmospheric rivers also form in the waters to the east and south of Australia and are most common during the warmer months. According to an article in Geophysical Research Letters by Lavers and Villarini, 8 of

1537-622: The January 2012 Flood in Oregon, the 2019 Valentine's Day Flood in Southern California, and the February 2020 floods in Oregon and Washington. Early in 1862, extreme storms riding the Pineapple Express battered the west coast for 45 days. In addition to a sudden snow melt, some places received an estimated 8.5 feet (2,600 mm) of rain, leading to the worst flooding in recorded history of California, Oregon, and Nevada, known as

1590-698: The Middle East. However, a rare atmospheric river was found responsible for the record floods of March 2019 in Iran that damaged one-third of the country's infrastructures and killed 76 people. That AR was named Dena, after the peak of the Zagros Mountains, which played a crucial role in precipitation formation. AR Dena started its long, 9000 km journey from the Atlantic Ocean and travelled across North Africa before its final landfall over

1643-804: The National Weather Service calling it "potentially life-threatening." Other news sources estimated that Los Angeles received six-months' worth of rain in the 48-hour period, while the Sierra Nevada mountains got 1 to 3 ft (30 to 91 cm) of snow, with over 4 feet (120 cm) of snow expected in higher elevations, such as Mammoth Lakes, CA . Parts of the San Bernardino Mountains' foothills received 10 to 12 in (250 to 300 mm) of rain. Atmospheric river Atmospheric rivers consist of narrow bands of enhanced water vapor transport, typically along

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1696-599: The Pacific Northwest to British Columbia and even southeast Alaska. In some parts of the world, changes in atmospheric humidity and heat caused by climate change are expected to increase the intensity and frequency of extreme weather and flood events caused by atmospheric rivers. This is expected to be especially prominent in the Western United States and Canada. The term was originally coined by researchers Reginald Newell and Yong Zhu of

1749-479: The San Gabriel Mountains, and over 13 feet (4.0 m) of snow in the Sierra Nevada . Although the entire state was affected, the Southern California counties of San Bernardino, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, and Los Angeles bore the brunt of the system of storms, as coastal and hillside areas were impacted by mudslides and major flooding. In December 2014, a powerful winter storm enhanced by

1802-577: The Stars and Stripes at the Thompson Adobe (now 809–811 State Street). No force defended the town: all local men had gone to Los Angeles earlier that week to join the forces under Captain Flores and General Andrés Pico . These forces surrendered to Frémont on January 13, 1847, a little more than two weeks later, at Cahuenga Pass near Los Angeles. A California Historical Landmark marker commemorates

1855-461: The Zagros Mountains. Specific synoptic weather conditions, including tropical-extratropical interactions of the atmospheric jets, and anomalously warm sea-surface temperatures in all surrounding basins provided the necessary ingredients for formation of this AR. Water transport by AR Dena was equivalent to more than 150 times the aggregated flow of the four major rivers in the region ( Tigris , Euphrates , Karun and Karkheh ). The intense rains made

1908-516: The boundaries between large areas of divergent surface air flow, including some frontal zones in association with extratropical cyclones that form over the oceans. Pineapple Express storms are the most commonly represented and recognized type of atmospheric rivers; the name is due to the warm water vapor plumes originating over the Hawaiian tropics that follow various paths towards western North America, arriving at latitudes from California and

1961-819: The closure of all major Canadian road connections to Vancouver , British Columbia including Highway 1 , the Coquihalla , and the Sea to Sky Highway . Heavy rains attributed to a Pineapple Express caused widespread flooding in the Bay Area. A Pineapple Express storm hit the state from 1 to 2 February 2024, before moving over the United States and settling over the I-25 corridor in Colorado , where heavy snow fell. Another one hit 3 February and last until 5 February, with

2014-660: The decades before about 1980, the local term for a Pineapple Express was "Hawaiian Storm". During the second week of January 1952, a series of "Hawaiian" storms swept into Northern California, causing widespread flooding around the Bay Area. The same storms brought a blizzard of heavy, wet snow to the Sierra Nevada Mountains , notoriously stranding the train City of San Francisco on 13 January. The greatest flooding in Northern California since

2067-463: The evacuations of thousands of people and also causing widespread property damage. Salinas received 4 in (100 mm) of rainfall for the entire event causing mudflows that forced 7,000 people to evacuate. Across the State of California, the storm knocked out power to an estimated 575,000 people at one point, according to power outage tracking maps and PG&E . In the mountainous parts of

2120-472: The exit for Lake Cachuma . The pass is one of three passages across the steep Santa Ynez Mountains , and the nearest to Santa Barbara. The Painted Cave community and Laurel Springs Ranch near Chumash Painted Cave SHP is four miles east of San Marcos Pass via East Camino Cielo Road, which intersects with SR 154 right at the summit. San Marcos Pass is a shorter but hillier alternative to using Highway 101 through Gaviota Pass . The third option, Refugio ,

2173-585: The following historical storms: Typically, the Oregon coast averages one Cat 4 atmospheric river (AR) each year; Washington state averages one Cat 4 AR every two years; the San Francisco Bay Area averages one Cat 4 AR every three years; and southern California, which typically experiences one Cat 2 or Cat 3 AR each year, averages one Cat 4 AR every ten years. Usage: In practice, the AR scale can be used to refer to "conditions" without reference to

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2226-438: The global meridional (north-south) water vapor transport, yet they cover less than 10% of any given extratropical line of latitude. Atmospheric rivers are also known to contribute to about 22% of total global runoff. They are also the major cause of extreme precipitation events that cause severe flooding in many mid-latitude, westerly coastal regions of the world, including the west coast of North America, Western Europe,

2279-473: The late 21st century in the Fraser River Basin." In November 2021, massive flooding in the Fraser River Basin near Vancouver was attributed to a series of atmospheric rivers. While a large body of research has shown the impacts of the atmospheric rivers on weather-related natural disasters over the western U.S. and Europe, little is known about their mechanisms and contribution to flooding in

2332-894: The moisture-rich " Pineapple Express " storm systems that come from the Pacific Ocean several times annually and account for about 50 percent of California's annual precipitation. University of California at San Diego 's Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes's director Marty Ralph, who is one of the United States' experts on atmospheric river storms and has been active in AR research for many years, said that, atmospheric rivers are more common in winter. For example, from October 2018 to spring 2019, there were 47 atmospheric rivers, 12 of which were rated strong or extreme, in Washington, Oregon and California. The rare May 2019 atmospheric rivers, classified as Category 1 and Category 2, are beneficial in terms of preventing seasonal wildfires but

2385-511: The northwestern United States, often leading to major snow-melt flooding with warm, tropical rains falling on frozen, snow laden ground. Examples of this are the Christmas flood of 1964 , Willamette Valley flood of 1996 , New Year's Day Flood of 1997, January 2006 Flood in Northern California and Nevada, Great Coastal Gale of 2007 , January 2008 Flood in Nevada, January 2009 Flood in Washington,

2438-482: The past century. In the current research field of atmospheric rivers, the length and width factors described above in conjunction with an integrated water vapor depth greater than 2.0 cm are used as standards to categorize atmospheric river events. A January 2019 article in Geophysical Research Letters described them as "long, meandering plumes of water vapor often originating over

2491-561: The region. Pineapple Express systems typically generate heavy snowfall in the mountains and Interior Plateau, which often melts rapidly because of the warming effect of the system. After being drained of their moisture, the tropical air masses reach the inland prairies as a Chinook wind or simply "a Chinook", a term which is also synonymous in the Pacific Northwest with the Pineapple Express . Many Pineapple Express events follow or occur simultaneously with major arctic troughs in

2544-549: The state, the winter storm dropped tremendous amounts of heavy snow, with Mammoth Mountain Ski Area receiving 94 in (240 cm) within 72 hours, and a total of 107 in (270 cm) of snowfall for the entire event. Blizzard conditions were also recorded on parts of the Sierra Nevada . Very high wind gusts were also observed, with gusts over 100 mph (160 km/h) observed at Alpine Meadows , peaking at 126 mph (203 km/h). Heavy rains attributed to

2597-431: The tropical oceans that bring sustained, heavy precipitation to the west coasts of North America and northern Europe." As data modeling techniques progress, integrated water vapor transport (IVT) is becoming a more common data type used to interpret atmospheric rivers. Its strength lies in its ability to show the transportation of water vapor over multiple time steps instead of a stagnant measurement of water vapor depth in

2650-539: The west coast of North Africa , the Iberian Peninsula, Iran and New Zealand. Equally, the absence of atmospheric rivers has been linked with the occurrence of droughts in several parts of the world, including South Africa, Spain and Portugal. The inconsistency of California's rainfall is due to the variability in strength and quantity of these storms, which can produce strenuous effects on California's water budget. The factors described above make California

2703-481: The word "category", as in this excerpt from the CW3E Scripps Twitter feed: "Late-season atmospheric river to bring precipitation to the high elevations over northern California, western Oregon, and Washington this weekend, with AR 3 conditions forecast over southern Oregon." Atmospheric rivers have a central role in the global water cycle . On any given day, atmospheric rivers account for over 90% of

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2756-612: Was developed by F. Martin Ralph , director of CW3E, who collaborated with Jonathan Rutz from the National Weather Service and other experts. The scale considers both the amount of water vapor transported and the duration of the event. Atmospheric rivers receive a preliminary rank according to the 3-hour average maximum vertically integrated water vapor transport. Those lasting less than 24 hours are demoted by one rank, while those lasting longer than 48 hours are increased by one rank. Examples of different atmospheric river categories include

2809-583: Was injured in one of the mudslides in Northern California , and many structures suffered damage. The storm killed at least two people in California. A significant length of California State Route 1 along the Big Sur collapsed into the ocean after massive amounts of rain were dumped, causing a debris flow onto the highway, which in turn triggered the collapse. In Southern California , the storm triggered widespread flooding and debris flows, forcing

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