(Bloomberg) — A powerful storm swirling in the Pacific Ocean is poised to bring much-needed rain and snow this weekend to drought-stricken California.
Up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) of snow is expected to fall in the Sierra Nevada Mountains starting Saturday, and 2 inches of rain will drench the Sacramento area, according to the National Weather Service. The storm could be intense enough to disrupt travel on roads at higher elevations.
“It could be a significant winter storm for us,” Eric Kurth, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Sacramento. “We’re expecting a good potential for travel disruptions over the mountains.”
The rain and snow arrive at a crucial moment for the state. Drought has gripped every inch of California for more than six months. Any relief is apt to come during the winter rainy season. Snow is especially critical because it will stay in the mountains until spring, then flow down to feed reservoirs used for drinking and agriculture.
“This is the time of year that we start building up the snow pack,” Kurth said. “It is a frozen reservoir.”
The looming storm has characteristics of an atmospheric river, which are powerful streams of moisture that flow off the Pacific carrying as much water through the air as in the mouth of the Mississippi River. A similar system brought widespread flooding across British Columbia in Canada last month.
Meteorologists rank atmospheric rivers on a scale of 1 to 5 — similar to the Saffir-Simpson scale used for hurricanes — with 5 being the most powerful. This weekend’s system is forecast to peak as a category 3 along the coast north of the Bay Area, according to the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes.
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