The Pineapple Express Threatens Extreme Storms for all of California
The Pineapple Express, an atmospheric river originating near Hawaii, acts like a fire hose, delivering substantial precipitation to the West Coast.
Despite the warm weather this week, west coast producers brace for impact yet again as the Pineapple Express makes its way to California from Hawaii. Strong atmospheric rivers threaten to dump heavy rain and snow over the next 10 days, with significant flood risk for some regions.
The weather phenomenon could bring more than 8 inches of rain to certain coastal areas by the end of the week. This atmospheric river has the capacity to transport up to 27 times the water volume of the Mississippi River, equivalent to a rainfall of 10-15 inches. And just like in 2023, we’re starting the year off with a lot of water and risk for damage.
Weather.com’s meteorologist Dominica Davis breaks it down for us.
“High elevation snow through the Sierras, that’s where we will see some of the heaviest snowfall, but the rainfall we are going to see not only through Seattle, down through Portland, but into California. Sacramento all the way down to Los Angeles is going to be very impressive, and really dangerous by the end of the week with flooding being a major concern.”
This week started off pretty warm considering we’ve had a bit of a cold and wet January. Despite a few days of sunshine, the extreme weather that spawned disastrous floods and raging wildfires in 2023 will likely continue in 2024.
