Hurricane hunters may be as busy now as during hurricane season. But it's not hurricanes they're flying in, but atmospheric rivers hitting California.
NOAA's hurricane hunters might be just as busy now as they were during hurricane season. However, it's not hurricanes they are flying through, but the atmospheric river systems plaguing California since Christmas week.
They are crucial to the West Coast. Half the rain and snow the West gets comes from atmospheric rivers, which are plumes of moisture coming in from the Pacific Ocean. And they cross an area with very few observation sites, making them challenging to forecast. "With the dropsondes released by the hurricane hunters, we get profiles of moisture, temperature, winds, in the lower part of the atmosphere, which are really critical for understanding the atmospheric river's structure," Wilson said.
Mansour is a seasoned veteran of the hurricane hunters. He says the ride might be a little less bumpy for the atmospheric rivers, but the mission is the same. This week will begin the fourth week of consecutive rain and snow for California. The series of atmospheric river events, occurring in rapid succession, are being referred to by experts as an"atmospheric river family."
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