California has been drenched with heavy rain as back-to-back atmospheric rivers slam the West Coast, raising the threat of flash floods and landslides.
The “Pineapple Express” - so called because it originates near Hawai’i in the tropical Pacific - is the first of two systems expected to hit the region.
The storm made landfall on Wednesday, causing heavy mountain snow, gusty winds and Rockslides in northern California. In Saratoga, one person was injured after a tree fell on a house, according to the National Weather Service.
San Diego County was under flood advisory throughout 10am Friday as the storm spread across Southern California.
The second storm in the series will arrive in California over the weekend and has the potential to be much stronger,
Models suggest it could intensify as it approaches the coast of California, a process called bombogenesis in which a spinning low-pressure system rapidly deepens.
The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services activated its operations centre and positioned personnel and equipment in areas most at risk from the weather.
