'Heavy Snow Followed by Heavy Rain'... Power Outages and Flooding in US Western Region

Massive Power Outage in California... San Francisco Schools Closed
Due to 'Atmospheric River' Phenomenon Bringing Large Amounts of Vapor Inland

On the 4th (local time), a gas station facility in the southern part of San Francisco, USA, was destroyed by a storm. Photo by AFP Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] The United States, which experienced great inconvenience due to heavy snow and cold waves at the end of last year, is now struggling with storm damage mainly in the western region.

According to major foreign media on the 4th (local time), a storm accompanied by strong winds and heavy rain landed in California in the western United States that afternoon. As a result, power outages occurred in about 174,000 households and businesses in California. In Fairfield, north of San Francisco Bay, one person died in a traffic accident caused by the storm. The deceased driver crashed into nearby utility poles due to water accumulated on the road.

Flood warnings were issued for nine counties in northern California until the evening of the same day. Additionally, with forecasts predicting heavy rain overnight in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, dozens of flights departing from San Francisco were canceled, and schools in the suburbs of San Francisco were ordered to close the following day. To prevent flooding and landslide damage, a 45-mile (72 km) section of Highway 1 (Pacific Coast Highway), which passes through the western coast's Big Sur, was closed, and the operation of San Francisco's cable cars (streetcars) is scheduled to be suspended until the 5th.

California authorities warned residents across the northern region not to go out on the roads and issued evacuation orders for coastal risk areas and low-lying residents, including Montecito, where 23 people died in a landslide in 2018. Nancy Ward, director of the California Emergency Management Agency, said, "This storm will be one of the most impactful storms to hit California in the past five years." Governor Gavin Newsom of California also declared a state of emergency.

Meteorologists point to the "atmospheric river" phenomenon as the cause of this storm. The atmospheric river is a phenomenon where a large amount of water vapor moves in a narrow, elongated shape like a river, also called an "atmospheric canal." Originating near the Hawaiian Pacific, this phenomenon, also known as the "Pineapple Express," carries moisture from the Pacific Ocean to the land, causing heavy rainfall.

Typically, winter rainfall was a blessing that relieved the dry summer drought in San Francisco, but in recent years, it has turned into record-breaking heavy rain due to climate change, causing various damages. Meteorologists expect that such heavy rain will occur several more times in the western United States in the future.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.