California Flooding and Storms

A late-December heat wave is forecast to push temperatures 20–30°F above normal across much of the South and Southeast on Thursday, with highs in the 70s and even 80s in parts of Texas, while a separate atmospheric river is bringing major downpours, flooding and heavy Sierra snow to California. The National Weather Service has placed more than 40 million people under flood watches in California, warning of widespread urban flooding, major rock and mudslides and rapid rises in rivers after at least one person in Redding died over the weekend when flooding stranded their car; researchers at Climate Central say this kind of extreme warm spell is now two to three times more likely because of human-caused carbon pollution.