Country music superstar Luke Bryan will tell you that Rain Is A Good Thing. However, the state of California has to be getting sick of it at this point. The University of Georgia is set to take on Texas Christian University in the NCAA Football National Championship tonight. The game is being played at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. With a massive amount of rain expected to continue falling in California, the weather is luckily not expected to impact the game which is being played in a dome.
According to USA Today, “two of the more energetic and moisture-laden parade of cyclones … are aiming directly for California. The cumulative effect of successive heavy rainfall events will lead to … rapid water rises, mudslides and the potential for major river flooding.” The first episode of bad weather predicted by the National Weather Service is already in action. Up to 5 inches of rain is currently downpouring on the Central California Coast. The next stretch of horrible weather and massive amounts of rain is expected to hit Southern California tomorrow.
Widespread Flooding Expected Across California, State Of Emergency Declared
According to AccuWeather meteorologist Joe Bauer, more than a dozen of the monitored river locations in California are expected to be above flood stage either currently or in the near future. “Flooding from Northern to Central California is expected to be widespread, even catastrophic in some locations around the coastal mountains and the northern and central Sierra,” he said.
The continued extreme weather patterns on the west coast have even caught the attention of President Joe Biden. He recently declared a federal emergency for California on Sunday. He cited “emergency conditions resulting from successive and severe winter storms, flooding and mudslides.” Federal assistance will now be activated to supplement more localized relief efforts.
As the rare atmospheric bomb cycle continues to hammer California, the situation is still expected to continue getting more extreme. As of this morning, more than 120,000 homes and businesses in the state remain without power. The number of people killed from the weather-induced devastation has unfortunately increased to 12. The destructive storms have also caused 46 of California’s state parks to close completely. An additional 49 of them are at least partially closed as well. The deluge of rain has been so bad that it even entirely washed away a beach. Despite the fact that unimaginable amounts of rain are falling in the state, it still might not even be enough to pull the state of its long-term ongoing drought.
Surfer Shreds Lake Tahoe Waves As Atmospheric River Surges
The situation in California remains a bit tense. But some folks are still finding a way to enjoy the nasty weather. As an atmospheric river ripped through the Northern California area, a group of surfers took advantage of the rare weather event by riding the waves at Lake Tahoe.
Very, very rarely is surfing a viable option on Lake Tahoe’s typically peaceful waters. Only when weather and water conditions combine under just the right circumstances do the waves get big enough for surfing to be possible. Shoutout to this guy for patiently waiting for his opportunity to do something so wild, fun, and reckless and then making the most of it.
