Sandbags in San Francisco: California Braces for ‘Bomb Cyclone’ Rainstorm

California is bracing for a “bomb cyclone” that will accompany several “atmospheric rivers” starting Wednesday, bringing high winds and heavy rain and snow to a state that has been drenched since last week.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

Northern California already has seen a deluge of rain, due to a storm system that culminated in a wet New Year’s Eve, while other areas, such as the San Joaquin Valley, have seen winter weather advisories due to strong wind, rain and fog. Now there is “brutal” weather on the way.

An atmospheric river will arrive in California starting Wednesday and linger through Thursday, according to forecasters. Another is set to arrive Saturday. The weather events will raise the risk for flooding across already saturated areas.

“Atmospheric rivers” are common in the winter. They are movements of moist air from the central Pacific to the California coast, where they encounter mountains that force the air to colder altitudes, causing precipitation.

The “bomb cyclone” phenomenon is rarer, and indicates a zone of rapidly dropping air pressure, fueling high winds around its perimeter. One such “bomb cyclone” caused a major storm elsewhere in the U.S. last month.

This winter was predicted to be another dry La Niña year for California — the third dry year in a row of a severe drought. But rains began arriving early, and a major storm on New Year’s Eve caused havoc in San Francisco.

Now, there is a shortage of sandbags in San Francisco, as local authorities and residents brace for more flooding and traffic chaos. The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Wednesday, ahead of the “bomb cyclone’s” arrival:

In San Francisco, city officials activated an Emergency Operations Center ahead of the storm. The Department of Public Works ran low on sandbags after distributing more than 8,500 by Tuesday afternoon, and limited the number to five per household. In addition, flood barriers were in place in areas where the storm drains are unlikely to be able the handle the water quantity, officials said.

Though wet winters and droughts are normal for California, the New York Times is attributing the severity of the storms — like the severity of the drought — to climate change, saying warmer air can hold more moisture.

Further down in an article headlined, sensationally, “How Climate Change Is Shaping California’s Winter Storms,” the Times admits that scientists “have not yet come to firm conclusions on these questions, though.”

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.