Another round of storms is expected to pack a punch for California
0SAN DIEGO — Thirty-six million Californians from Sonoma County to the U.S.-Mexico border are under weekend flood watches as the state faces the more potent of two early-February storms.
The front’s rain and snow will be boosted by an atmospheric river, a firehose of precipitation, forecasters say. This atmospheric river is drawing from tropical climes, making it a “Pineapple Express.”
“All Californians in the storm’s path — especially those in Southern California — should prepare now,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement Friday.
Dangerous flooding across the state was possible through Tuesday, forecasters said, with 6 inches likely and 12 inches of rain or more possible from the lower reaches of the Central Coast to the Los Angeles County coast.
If the upper ends of those estimates are reached, they could break rainfall records for the date and even monthly precipitation records, according to NBC News forecasters.
The National Weather Service on Saturday boosted its warnings for Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties north of L.A., saying there is "a high risk of excessive rainfall," a proclamation issued only a few times a year, Ariel Cohen, the meteorologist-in-charge of the L.A. regional office, said at a Santa Barbara County news conference.
The storm was expected to hit the Bay Area as early as Saturday, then work its way down the coast, affecting San Diego last.
The Bay Area and Central Coast could also be affected by damaging winds and waves higher than 20 feet. The National Weather Service office in Monterey said gusts of nearly 70 mph could whip the Central Coast community of Big Sur.