Atmospheric River May Lessen California Drought

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mt. shasta from space
The Southern, Eastern and Western Slopes of Mt. Shasta were almost bare in January. (Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory images by Robert Simmon, using Landsat 8 data from the USGS Earth Explorer)

Finally, storms are bringing some desperately needed rain to California, which is suffering from one of the worst droughts in centuries.

The storms, which began today (Feb. 6) and should continue through the weekend, may provide California with 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters) of rain and blanket the Sierra Nevada mountains with as much as 2 feet (0.6 meters) of snow. Some areas of the state can expect between 4 and 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) of rain over the next week, and the rains are gracing the driest portions of the state — Northern and Central California, Climate Central reported.

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Tia Ghose
Tia Ghose
Editor-in-Chief (Premium)

Tia is the editor-in-chief (premium) and was formerly managing editor and senior writer for Live Science. Her work has appeared in Scientific American, Wired.com, Science News and other outlets. She holds a master's degree in bioengineering from the University of Washington, a graduate certificate in science writing from UC Santa Cruz and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Tia was part of a team at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that published the Empty Cradles series on preterm births, which won multiple awards, including the 2012 Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism.