California
What is an atmospheric river? Weather event behind California floods, record snow
Storms related to atmospheric rivers have dumped document quantities of rain and snow in California this winter, leading to flooding and different hazards.
The large image: Atmospheric rivers direct tropical moisture, typically from greater than 1,500 miles away, towards the Golden State, the place it’s wrung out within the type of heavy precipitation.
- Atmospheric rivers are lengthy, slender highways of moisture, sometimes situated at about 10,000 to fifteen,000 ft above the floor. They’ll journey hundreds of miles and are accountable for 30-50% of the moist season precipitation alongside the West Coast of the U.S., in keeping with NOAA.
- A robust atmospheric river can transport an quantity of water vapor that’s “roughly equal to 7.5–15 instances the common movement of liquid water on the mouth of the Mississippi River,” NOAA has discovered.
- Scientists have solely just lately gained a larger understanding of the function that atmospheric rivers play in West Coast storm occasions, and noticed them affecting different areas of the world as properly.
- Through the previous few months, hurricane hunters operated by the Air Pressure and NOAA have been investigating atmospheric rivers over the Pacific Ocean and offering added information for laptop fashions to refine their projections.
‘Menace stage: This winter, California has been hit by greater than a dozen atmospheric river occasions, lots of them sturdy ones which have dumped upwards of 100 inches of snow at a time within the Sierra Nevada mountains, and a few foot of rain at decrease elevations.
- Whereas all this precipitation has helped ease, although not eradicate, the document drought affecting the state, there could be an excessive amount of of a superb factor.
- With an epic snowpack 200 inches deep in some locations, reservoirs which are rising towards full ranges and rivers working excessive, any further atmospheric river occasions might trigger critical flooding.
- That is significantly the case for heat atmospheric rivers, which might increase snow ranges and trigger rain to fall on high of the present snow, releasing a few of its water content material.
- Damaging flooding has already occurred in Central and Northern California throughout mid-March from atmospheric river occasions, and extra could also be on the way in which.
Between the traces: Local weather change is including much more moisture to atmospheric rivers, enabling them to dump larger rain and snow totals.
- That is occurring as a result of ocean temperatures are growing, inflicting extra warmth and moisture to be transferred into the ambiance and made accessible to storm methods.
- As well as, with every 1°C (1.8°F) enhance in air temperatures, a selected air mass can maintain a minimum of 7% extra moisture.
- Particular person storms related to atmospheric rivers can pull in much more water vapor than this, making damaging rain and snowfall extra seemingly.
- California remains to be in a long-term extreme drought, significantly given its depleted groundwater provides.
The underside line: Research additionally present that local weather change raises the percentages of climate whiplash occasions from drought to flooding and again once more.
- That is noteworthy since California was already recognized for its feast or famine precipitation regime.
Go deeper: Subsequent in parade of atmospheric rivers set to slam storm-hit California
California
What California city has the best weather for you? Take our quiz
California has plenty of options when it comes to finding a place with your preferred weather. If you like cool weather, some cities spend nearly the entire year below 70 degrees. If you hate the rain, there are locations that average just a few inches per year.
The Chronicle gathered data about temperature, precipitation, air quality and extreme weather for 61 places across California, including the 20 most populous cities with data available. In total, 53 of the state’s 58 counties are represented in the analysis.
While there may not be a perfect match with everything you’re looking for, this quiz will help pinpoint a place that gets close.
California
California woman dies from Fresno County's first human case of rabies in more than 30 years
A California woman died of rabies after allegedly being bitten by a bat in her classroom, according to Fresno County health officials.
The woman, later identified as Leah Seneng, 60, marks the first human case of rabies in Fresno County since 1992.
“In general, rabies is a disease that affects the brain, and it is very rare. But when it develops, it can cause very serious consequences,” said Dr. Trnidad Solis, Fresno County Health Department’s deputy health officer. “It’s transmitted through saliva; it is not airborne.”
RABIES PATIENT BECOMES FIRST FATAL CASE IN US AFTER POST-EXPOSURE TREATMENT, REPORT SAYS
Seneng, who was an art teacher at Bryant Middle School in Dos Palos, was bitten by the bat when she was attempting to rescue it in her classroom, local outlet ABC30 reported.
She first came into contact with the bat in October, but did not display symptoms until approximately a month later, according to Fresno County health officials. She was admitted to the hospital and died four days later.
PEANUT THE SQUIRREL EARMARKED FOR EUTHANASIA BEFORE BEING CONFISCATED AND WAS RABIES-FREE: REPORT
“The most frequent route of transmission is through the bite of an animal that has rabies. With rabies, unfortunately, there is no cure. So, when symptoms develop, there is no treatment, and often when it develops, it is often fatal. So we want the public to know that prevention is key to preventing rabies infection,” Solis said.
Fresno County officials do not believe there is a threat to public health at this time, but are working with the Merced County Health Department to identify any other possible exposures and administer vaccines.
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Seneng’s coworkers have set up a GoFundMe account to assist her family during this time.
California
Another batch of raw milk from a trendy California brand just tested positive for bird flu
- Two batches of raw milk from a trendy California brand have tested positive for bird flu this week.
- Bird flu has been spreading rapidly among cattle in the US.
- Experts say drinking raw milk is dangerous, and can cause food poisoning.
Another batch of raw milk just tested positive for bird flu in California.
Last Sunday, Fresno-based Raw Farm voluntarily recalled a first batch of cream top whole raw milk with a “best by” date of November 27. By Wednesday, the California Department of Public Health announced that a second batch of Raw Farm cream top, with a “best by” date of December 7 had also tested positive for bird flu, based on retail sampling.
“We’re not making a big deal about it, because it’s not a big deal,” Kaleigh Stanziani, Raw Farm’s vice president of marketing, said in a short video posted on YouTube after the farm’s first voluntary recall was announced earlier this week.
She said there had only been an indication that there might be a “trace element of something possible,” emphasizing that there had been no reported illnesses of Raw Farms cows or positive tests from the cattle.
Raw Farm owner Mark McAfee later told the LA Times that the California Department of Food and Agriculture had requested that his company “hold delivery of further products” until Friday, after conducting thorough testing of two Raw Farms and one creamery on Wednesday. (McAfee could not immediately be reached for comment by Business Insider during the Thanksgiving holiday.)
Raw milk may be helping bird flu spread — but not in the way you might think
Scientists suspect that cross-contamination of raw milk between animals may be one reason the H5N1 virus is spreading rapidly among cows in the US — and could even contribute to the human spread of the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cautions that dairy workers might be able to contract bird flu by infected raw milk splashed into their eyes.
There is no definitive evidence yet that humans can get bird flu from drinking contaminated raw milk. Instead, health authorities generally recommend avoiding raw milk because of other serious health risks, including food poisoning with bacteria like Salmonella, E.coli, or Listeria.
There are no known health benefits of drinking raw milk. Instead, all evidence suggests that pasteurized milk is just as nutritious, and is safer to consume.
Still, raw milk has become a trendy product among some influencers. Gwenyth Paltrow says she has it in her coffee in the morning.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Trump’s pick for Health and Human Services secretary, says he wants the US Food and Drug Administration to stop its “war” against raw milk.
Over the summer, “Carnivore MD” Paul Saladino released a raw milk smoothie in partnership with the elite Los Angeles health foods store Erewhon featuring unpasteurized (raw) kefir from Raw Farms, and powdered beef organs.
California has some of the loosest rules around raw milk in the country; it’s generally fine for California retailers like health foods stores and grocers to sell it, raw milk products just can’t be transported across state lines, per FDA rules.
Michael Payne, a researcher at the Western Institute of Food Safety and Security, told The Guardian that people consuming Dr. Paul’s $19 smoothie were “playing Russian roulette with their health,” and ignoring pasteurization, “the single most important food safety firewall in history.”
California dairy farms have been seeing an uptick in bird flu cases since August. The state has reported 29 confirmed human cases of bird flu, and all but one of those was sourced back to cows.
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the first confirmed case of bird flu in a California child from Alameda County. The child had no known contact with infected farm animals, but may have been exposed to wild birds, the California health department said in a statement.
The child had mild symptoms and is recovering well after receiving antiviral drugs.
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