Photography
California, which has been mired in drought conditions and saw its worst-ever wildfire season in 2020, lurched from one extreme to the other this week.
Noah Berger/AP
Firefighters spray down flames on the side of Interstate 210 in Sylmar on Jan. 19.
Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images
Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images
Snow falls at a rate of two to four inches per hour in Mammoth Lakes on Wednesday.
Peter Morning
Peter Morning
The Big Sur River overflows its banks Thursday after excessive rainfall from storms along the central California coast.
Melina Mara/The Washington Post
Melina Mara/The Washington Post
A slow-moving atmospheric river, which is a narrow corridor of fast-flowing air containing huge volumes of water vapor, moved over Northern and central California, dumping as much as 16 inches of rain, as well as snowfall measuring between four and nine feet in the Sierra Nevada.
Melina Mara/The Washington Post
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Gabriel Fletcher-Hernandez/One Nerd Army via Storyful
Boulders cover Highway 1 in Big Sur on Thursday.
Melina Mara/The Washington Post
Melina Mara/The Washington Post
A truck makes its way along River Road near Salinas in Monterey County on Thursday. Heavy rains have caused mudslides and flooding in the area.
Noah Berger/AP
Noah Berger/AP
Atmospheric rivers are responsible for much of California’s winter rains, but they can be extremely hazardous, especially when excessive rain falls on burn scars from recent wildfires. Five of the state’s six largest wildfires on record occurred last year.
Noah Berger/AP
A strong atmospheric river such as this one can transport an amount of water vapor that’s equivalent to 7.5 to 15 times the average flow of water at the mouth of the Mississippi River, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Many of the areas that saw extreme rainfall this week were burned just months ago. New vegetation has not yet taken hold, making the areas ripe for mudslides.
The storm system will have benefits in the form of mountain snows that will translate to water supplies during the dry season.
On the summit of Mammoth Mountain, 107 inches of snow fell in just three days.
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Governor's Office of Emergency Services via Storyful
A stuck tractor trailer sits in heavy snowfall along U.S. Highway 395 in Mono County on Wednesday in this photo provided by Caltrans.
Andy Richard/AP
Andy Richard/AP
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Fremont Fire Department via Storyful
A Caltrans road crew cleans up mudslides and rockfalls on Highway 1 in Big Sur on Thursday.
Melina Mara/The Washington Post
Melina Mara/The Washington Post
The storm also caused wind damage and even brought snow low enough to coat the ground in much of Sonoma County, which rarely sees significant snowfall.
Melina Mara/The Washington Post
Authorities work the scene of an accident after a hailstorm on Malibu Canyon Road in Malibu on Jan. 23.
AP
AP
A portion of Highway 1 in Big Sur is closed Thursday.
Melina Mara/The Washington Post
Melina Mara/The Washington Post
Amy Lilly takes stock of the damage after a tree limb crashed into her house in Sacramento during a storm Wednesday.
Rich Pedroncelli/AP
Rich Pedroncelli/AP
Studies show that as the climate warms, California is more likely to see similar precipitation whiplash events, going from drought to flood and back again in short time periods.
Rich Pedroncelli/AP
As Newport Beach braces for rain, a hill is covered with tarp on Jan. 23.
Mindy Schauer/AP
Mindy Schauer/AP
A cleanup crew on Highway 1 on Thursday.
Melina Mara/The Washington Post
Melina Mara/The Washington Post
Heavy snow falls at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area on Wednesday.
Peter Morning
Peter Morning