What is an Atmospheric River?

Atmospheric rivers are long, narrow bands in the atmosphere that transport water vapor, like a river in the sky. When an atmospheric river makes landfall, it often releases this water vapor as rain or snow. Atmospheric rivers are responsible for up to half of California’s annual precipitation, and can cause flood damages averaging $1.1 billion annually throughout the West. Learn more about how atmospheric rivers form, and a scale to categorize their intensity and impacts, in this animation.
0:19 How do atmospheric rivers form?
0:45 What is the atmospheric river scale?
1:05 Why do we research atmospheric rivers?
If you are a media outlet interested in using this video, please contact [e-mail].
Get atmospheric river forecasts from the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E): cw3e.ucsd.edu/
#AtmosphericRiver #Meteorology #Weather #CAwx #AtmosphericRivers #Drought #Flooding #CaliforniaFlooding

[@alexisbad9725]

anyone in the Bay Area watching this before the sunday storm ? lol

[@jimnote2955]

How’s it going with storm, down south waiting for it hope we get some of it

[@calebyao.]

Flooding

[@calebyao.]

I live in sacramento

[@calebyao.]

There are areas with very bad flooding thankfully not where i live in arden

[@calebyao.]

But the roads around me are closed

[@spideyfan7554]

Great video, loved the way you explained things, very helpful.

[@jarianjones9551]

Wow! I’ve never heard of this before today. Thanks for creating this video. Very helpful!

[@scrippsoceanography]

Thank you for watching!

[@pong9000]

You've never heard of it because it's a pretentious new way of saying chinook. If we're talking about the Pacific Northwest, which of course all Natives and old-timers have a word for this already. Chinook is the snow-eater. But this is like people rejecting the silly ancient Chinese superstition that long ago before man terrible lizards walked the Earth. Don't say "long" meaning terrible lizard in dirty Chinese, but say "dino saur" meaning terrible lizard in respectable authoritative latin!

[@T4rmdablock]

Anyone in SoCal here before Fridays storm?

[@pd9662]

Awesome info...learnt something new today.

[@TMPreRaff]

Now you need to learn that "learnt" is "informal and archaic".

[@anthonyb7571]

*Learned*

[@kylehill3643]

@@anthonyb7571 It used to be called 'Pineapple Express' due to it's origins near Hawaii somehow they degraded the meaning.

[@WoWCity]

That river is the best river so much better than the Amazon or the Nile that eliminates drought in California mile by mile.

[@abelsm6270]

This one better stop that reservoir water thing from decreasing

[@calebyao.]

Who’s watching before the ar5 hits california?

[@jenniferlaborin9585]

We're going to see a series of these ..

[@stessiebrook]

It’s been raining for like a week in LA and I guess this is why.

[@mathewwrightman854]

This is happening in Australia right now.. it's bloody intense

[@apolloniaarellano5427]

So cool!

[@cadendignard-campbell2773]

Atmospheric river hitting the pnw currently (again)… the floods are so bad :(

[@SWillibr]

Always a fancy name to sell. Synonyms would be Squiting clouds, Hosers, Storms or Pineapple Express. The last 2 used to be popular, but they're so boring now.

[@luxxlace6678]

Anyone in the Bay Area watching this bc the algorithmic river brought them here before the storm

[@NOCALGooN916]

Currently watching from Sacramento just had 1 of these

[@scrippsoceanography]

Thank you for watching!

[@josephotoshi]

Since there’s an atmospheric river expected for California this week, can I find a rating of how intense this will be on a weather website? (I’m asking this simply out of curiosity :))

[@scrippsoceanography]

Yes! The Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes posts AR Outlooks on their website prior to storms. Here is the link for this system, which is anticipated to be an AR 2 or AR 3 cw3e.ucsd.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/20210126_AR_Quicklook.pdf. You can also follow the Center on Twitter for daily updates at twitter.com/cw3e_scripps.

[@cruzdeleon1888]

@@scrippsoceanography how does the atmospheric river travel all the way across the central us and further? Since it faces the various mountainous regions of Utah, Colorado etc shouldn't it be less intense...the current forecast calls for Intense Numerous rain in addition to high winds, and hail...And what kind of system can actually slow or dissipate such a strong system? Hurricane Gulf system? Northern Winter system?

[@kylehill3643]

@@scrippsoceanography Since when did they stop calling it 'Pineapple Express?' I never here that word anymore. I mean hear.

[@saeed8461]

Just learned something

[@scrippsoceanography]

Awesome to hear - thanks for watching!

[@andrewdorie4010]

@00:28, When this humid air meets the Pacific what? Did he say “storm”?

[@megananimirkhanian8215]

Where can I find the rating system?

[@scrippsoceanography]

You can find more information on the AR Scale on the website for the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (cw3e.ucsd.edu) or in this press release: scripps.ucsd.edu/news/new-scale-characterize-strength-and-impacts-atmospheric-river-storms.

[@Mfjuz]

During winter they mostly turn into nor easters

[@obserwer6952]

Why I'am reading about this only now in Scientific American Poland?

[@scrippsoceanography]

Thank you for watching. Scientific American ran a lovely feature written by Marty Ralph, a research meteorologist who directs the Center for Western Weather Extremes at Scripps. You can read that full piece here: www.scientificamerican.com/article/better-atmospheric-river-forecasts-are-giving-emergency-planners-more-time-to-prepare-for-flooding/

[@ph00xy]

I have only heard the term "atmospheric river" in the past few months. I'm sure this isn't a brand new phenomenon. Has the term been recently coined or has it been used for a long time and I just missed it?

[@scrippsoceanography]

The term was first used in the 1990s but officially entered the Glossary of Meteorology in 2018. You can read more about that process here: journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/bams/99/4/bams-d-17-0157.1.xml

[@ph00xy]

@@scrippsoceanography Thanks for the link.

[@gordonclark8654]

Yes. Its part of the fear-porn lexicon. The heavy rain has long been called the "Pineapple Express". Its been rebranded to be new and scary. AKA fear-porn.

[@pong9000]

@@gordonclark8654 Pre-Columbian we just called it chinook lit. "snow-eater".

[@commonsense1907]

An atmospheric river would have brought heavy rain at low elevations and heavy snow at high elevations in 1846. When heavy snow stranded the Donner Party.

[@djc7039]

They used to call them "Gully Washers" before they changed cold air into "Bomb Cyclones".

[@RM-ci7be]

Atmospheric River = River in sky.

[@marcoscastro1398]

This is fantastic,Thank God for his great creation.

[@scrippsoceanography]

Thank you for watching!

[@melissahouse3488]

Fantastic, it's destroying people's homes & lives/safety!?! Sure it's replenishing water but I don't know how you can call it fantastic when it's catastrophic for many. Severe drought and then extreme rain isn't exactly healthy.

[@Shonade_Malik]

​@@melissahouse3488Sure it's sometimes dangerous but all weather processes are beautiful.

[@ubiquitouspoo2488]

What is an atmospheric river ? It's the Pineapple Express.

[@dave32173]

funny to see a shamrock concrete truck crossing the flood zone.

[@jessicak958]

Thanks apparently this will happen tomorrow in the Bay Area. The crazy part is they been predicting this but yet no one is cleaning the drains.. 😌🤔

[@melissapyle7879]

Ya'll cant get a break.. feast or famine there it seems.. b safe.. ur friendly southerner 😊

[@MormsNorm]

So, you mean It's a storm.....

[@watchmenglobally8635]

This rises in grwat Feet higher then airplanes go

[@sweatcap7871]

American Canyon is watching this video

[@Iamhomosapienthatexistsonearth]

later today its gonna happen in norway fuck

[@TheCbot88]

Probably so much greenhouse gas that the water can’t spread out anymore or something.

[@oreculeslazyinterstellarte5798]

Ayyyy we’re my BC bois at

[@badactor3440]

00:08 what the hell is a "catmospheric river"? Is that when it rains 🐈 🐈?

[@neverforget3295]

Why is it no longer called the "pineapple express"? Not scary enough?

[@user-nu4yx8dq4t]

In the 1960s meteorologists coined the phrase “Pineapple Express” to describe storm tracks that originated near Hawaii and carried warm water vapor to the coast of North America. By the late 1990s atmospheric scientists had found that over 90 per cent of the world’s moisture from the tropics and subtropics was transported to higher latitudes by similar systems, which they named “atmospheric rivers.”

[@guyfaux1494]

Its called the Pineapple Express

[@johnclark1612]

In Texas we call them rain clouds, anyhow, "atmospheric river" is what those highfalutin dingleberries call it, They forgot what it was and coined this dandy phrase I guess.

[@jimjones9239]

It is old news, it is called the Pinapple express.

[@richardgeisel4290]

Looks like rain

[@winstonsmith935]

Same as the Pineapple Express. Except the Media didn’t think that was a significant enough term. So Rivers of Rain sounded better.

[@pong9000]

Also Chinook literally "snow-eater". It's cool if other regions have that and they use the janky new term, but in the PNW they're not schooling anybody (I hope).

[@robertwalegir8677]

Lived in California most of my life it’s really called the pineapple express

[@FredZiffendorf-sb5bi]

An atmospheric river is simply a different type of hurricane.

[@Peculiar223]

Where was this damn sky river during those huge fires in California when the residents were up shit creek? Got damn river is slow flowing and late as usual. We want to return that river fir a refund.

[@ariestob9670]

In California it doesn’t rain at all in the summer

[@CosmicSeeker69]

The C.A. fires were all down to Lockheed Martin and their DEW's development programme. They needed to refine them before they were fitted to the new range of Navy aircraft carrier and the upcoming new fighter's. They're on the vessel General Ford - powered by two nuclear reactors.

[@ShadowWizard123]

So it's a rain cloud? Got it

[@Bespelled22]

Moist

[@sbmang4927]

Oh you mean a downpour. Just use simple language. Were not all meteorologist majors.

[@paulreyes1295]

What is a down pour?

[@royrice6656]

Atmospheric river, bomb cyclone……..tornadic fog?? 🤔🤔😳

[@matthewirie631]

Why don't they call it rain

[@bluefin9658]

It has another name,,,,,, ham-burger river

[@waynerobinson4858]

Soo virtually a large rain cloud why not just say here comes a crap ton of rain

[@okboomer1340]

Dear God. Please make them stop saying "Atmospheric River". For the love of baby Jesus, make them stop. Amen.

[@mission_new-earth]

Why does it bother you? It’s called What it defines. A cloud of water vapor shaped like a river… It’s called science. There are different formations of clouds with levels of water vapor. In years of El Niño we will see more atmospheric rivers which means prepare for possible flooding… Jesus help the people see your beautiful creation as diverse and non homogenous. Amen!❤ My concern is, how does chemtrails come into play here…

[@GeronimoPlaz]

Dem shits is just long rain clouds

[@chuck9693]

What’s wrong with it?? KZbin comments complain about the most random things

[@pong9000]

This predates Columbus. Pacific Northwest locals have always called it a chinook. Literally "snow-eater". Why academia running websites from Austin Texas imposing a janky new term like they've just discovered something for themselves and need to educate the world of their diminished ignorance?

[@pong9000]

Weird that KZbin algorithm auto-deleted my comment here that it was called chinook i.e. "snow-eater" long before Columbus. Is this offensive to anybody?

[@gmariet1391]

Atmospheric Rivers is a term or never heard used to describe heavy rain in my many decades of life . Sounds like terminology used by global warming alarmists .

[@davidsflooringco]

So its a cloud, why the terminology?

[@TheHexidecimal]

It's just Mountain Rain. No need for fancy science words.

[@watchmenglobally8635]

Donot fly over this unless you fly north too east or south but not in tge paths of this disobedieces called this all nations people

[@vstar7196]

Who invents these completely stupid terms?

[@scottwilliams3665]

Why is California complaining didn't they want water

[@SUBZEROUKS]

Lol atmospheric river hahahaha all of sudden there is rivers in the sky

[@pong9000]

Even before Columbus we called this the chinook. Chinook literally translates: "snow eater". Chinook turns ski slopes brown! Is it really helpful to push a janky alternate term for weather phenomenon that everybody outside academia knows by personal experience? Just call it what it's always been called by the people who live with it: chinook! Or you hate the old wisdom.