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By Thomas Kika
Weekend Staff Writer
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California is set to get battered by another intense rainstorm, just days after a previous storm caused severe flooding throughout the Golden State.
According to a forecast from AccuWeather, a significant storm is set to intensify rapidly over the Pacific Ocean en route to California on Wednesday through to Thursday. Due to the rapid nature of the storm's development, it has been categorized as a "bomb cyclone," a colloquial term for explosive cyclogenesis, the process in which storms reach cyclone strength in a short period of time outside of tropical regions. The storm is expected to bring further flooding, power outages, and powerful winds to a state already ravaged by severe weather.
Over the New Year's holiday weekend, various parts of California were hit with significant precipitation, including heavy rain, snow, and wind. As a result of this, flooding was reported in certain regions, with photos and videos of submerged cars emerging out of San Francisco by Saturday afternoon.
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The city saw 5.46 inches of rain, the second wettest day on record, according to John Shrable, a meteorologist at local news station KRON 4.
Like that storm, the new storm forecast to hit this week is also an "atmospheric river," in which a plume of precipitation originates from a tropical region, resembling a river on weather maps. The storm now headed for California originated roughly 2,500 miles away in Hawaii. Such storms originating in the Aloha States have been dubbed "Pineapple Expresses" by observers.
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AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson predicted that the path of the storm would target Northern California first on Wednesday and move through Central and Southern California by Thursday. Some areas might see as much as two inches of rain per hour, he added.
In his own statement on the forecast, AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter warned that flooding may result in street or highway closures, especially with certain regions still dealing with the effects of the previous storm. He also warned of certain disruptions that could last for several days after the storm has passed, like mudslides.
"There is a significant risk for flash flooding, and people should watch for and avoid rapidly rising water which can quickly become life-threatening," Porter said. "This will be a dangerous and high-impact storm for California, capable of producing life-threatening conditions and significant disruption which may last several days. Not only will this storm be intense, tapping into a substantial atmospheric river, but it is also arriving just days after the previous storm brought heavy rainfall and created significant flooding, increasing the impacts and risks that can occur."
Newsweek reached out to the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services for comment.
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