An atmospheric river (AR) is a narrow corridor or filament of concentrated moisture in the atmosphere. Other names for this phenomenon are tropical plume, tropical connection, moisture plume, water vapor surge, and cloud band.
Atmospheric rivers consist of narrow bands of enhanced water vapor transport, typically along the boundaries between large areas of divergent surface air flow, including some frontal zones in association with extratropical cyclones that form over the oceans.
Pineapple Express storms are the most commonly represented and recognized type of atmospheric rivers; the name is due to the warm water vapor plumes originating over the Hawaiian tropics that follow various paths towards western North America, arriving at latitudes from California and the Pacific Northwest to British Columbia and even southeast Alaska.
In some parts of the world, changes in atmospheric humidity and heat caused by climate change are expected to increase the intensity and frequency of extreme weather and flood events caused by atmospheric rivers. This is expected to be especially prominent in the Western United States and Canada. Continue reading
Is this normal? California is facing its 12th atmospheric river this winter following a historic droughts CNN - March 24, 2023
California is experiencing major weather whiplash after a years-long, historic megadrought. Before the powerful atmospheric river storm this week, many people welcomed this season's heavy rain and snow that the state so desperately needed. But now, the storms keep coming - and are leaving widespread destruction in their wake.
A rare tornado hit a city near Los Angeles on Wednesday, injuring one person and damaging at least 17 buildings, officials said. With estimated peak winds of 110 mph, the National Weather Service confirmed it to be the strongest tornado to hit the region since 1983.
In Northern California, at least five people have died in the San Francisco Bay Area as fierce winds lashed cities on Tuesday, toppling trees and power lines. Meteorologists are also keeping an eye on the Southern US, where severe weather threats are expected to increase today and peak on Friday.
1st Antarctica Atmospheric River Found Live Science - December 16, 2013
A wild weather phenomenon that causes massive winter flooding in California also dumps snow in East Antarctica, wetting one of the driest places on Earth. This is the first time scientists have spotted an atmospheric river snaking from the Indian Ocean south to Antarctica. Atmospheric rivers are long, narrow water vapor plumes stretching hundreds of miles across the sky. California weather forecasters call them the "Pineapple Express," known for transporting tropical moisture from Hawaii to the West Coast during winter. But the weather pattern can appear any time of the year, and atmospheric rivers have been spotted dropping rain and snow in Europe and even in the Arctic.