Today is National Weatherman’s Day, So the California Storm Has Been Upgraded to a Bomb Cyclone and a State of Emergency Has Been Declared

A Western Gull near Monterey Bay prior to the storm
This is not necessarily how National Weatherman’s Day should go. An atmospheric river is stalled over California, resulting in a rare Level 4 of 4 risk of excessive rainfall and the storm itself has been upgraded to a bomb cyclone.
Referencing the atmospheric river, the National Weather Service said that “[A] strong Pacific storm system will bring impactful and dangerous flooding rains, heavy snow, strong winds, coastal flooding, and high surf to California. Heavy rainfall will bring the threat for life-threatening flash, urban, and river flooding as well as debris flows and mudslides. High elevation snow may produce whiteout conditions and dangerous, near impossible travel conditions.”
The Level 4 risk is in effect for more than 14 million people across Southern California.
The atmospheric river is equivalent to a never-ending fire hose of rain. Torrential rainfall and “locally catastrophic” flooding is possible in Orange County through Tuesday, the NWS said.
A bomb cyclone, known among climate scientists as “bombogenesis,” is a fast-developing storm that occurs when atmospheric pressure drops at least 24 millibars over a 24-hour period, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says on its website.
The atmospheric pressure drop meteorologists recorded in California on Sunday was more than enough to qualify as a bomb cyclone. According to UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain, it may have been “historic.”
Meanwhile, as  the epic storms hammered the Golden State, the maxim “the show must go on” was in full force at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. “I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now,” sang Canadian-American singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, who is now 80, without any sense of irony whatsoever.
As of 10 p.m, Sunday local time, more than 800,000 customers were without power, according to Poweroutage.us, which tracks such information.
In the northern part of the state, downed trees and power lines forced the closure of Highway 1 along the Big Sur coastline, while the Tahoe area was under a winter storm warning for heavy snowfall. In the greater Los Angeles region, heavy rainfall on Monday could bring “one of the most dramatic weather days in recent memory” as slow-moving storms inundate Southern California, the National Weather Service Los Angeles said.
National Weatherman’s Day, also known as National Weatherperson’s Day, is observed each year on February 5 in the United States. The day is intended to recognize individuals in the fields of meteorology and weather forecasting as well as volunteer observers and storm spotters. The day is observed on the birthday of John Jeffries, one of the country’s first weather observers. Jeffries took daily weather measurements starting in 1774. In 1784, he made the first balloon flight over London with a goal of gathering data for a scientific study of the air at higher altitudes.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)