Incredible photographs show California has ‘gone green’ after sustained heavy rainfall

The state of California is experiencing a series of atmospheric rivers that have brought huge amounts of rain, and even snow, to the state in recent weeks. Weather trends in the Golden State are becoming more extreme and this period of intense rain comes while the region is technically still undergoing a period of drought.

Jay Lund, co-director of the Center for Watershed Sciences, told the New York Times that simultaneous flooding and drought are “basically a byproduct of the high variability of California’s climate”.

Atmospheric rivers are streams of clouds in the sky that travel like rivers and can dump huge amounts of rain for a sustained period, increasing the risk of flooding and mudslides. These ‘rivers in the sky’ are fairly common and NASA estimates that there are typically about 11 on the planet at any one time.

Often this phenomenon can bring much-needed precipitation in areas that may not have consistent rain or snow, but the more powerful atmospheric rivers can overwhelm local flood defences. In the sky they look like a line of wispy clouds, but the a single formation can carry up to 15 times as much water as the entire Mississippi River, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates.

Farmers suffer as fluctuating weather both fries and floods

Throughout the state, California has seen almost daily deluges of rain for the past month. It is thought that more than 94 trillion litres of water has fallen on the state since Christmas Eve, and that is causing concern for the region’s many farmers.

California has been reeling from an extremely hot and dry summer that caused droughts and hurt farmers’ harvest significantly.

You may think that the recent spell of heavy rain would have helped, but rain that falls after a period of drought is less than ideal. The ground in some areas was so dry that the rainwater was unable to soak beyond the upper layer, simply running off into rivers and, eventually, the ocean.

The state has invested huge amounts into water management in recent decades, with huge reservoirs built to ensure a consistent supply of water. But these large-scale infrastructure efforts struggle to adapt to the rapidly changing California weather and are easily overwhelmed by intense rainfall.

Technically the state has been in a period of drought for the past three years and water shortages are becoming increasingly common. Agriculture is responsible for around 80% of California’s waters usage, and farmers will struggle to access the required water if weather trends continue as they are.