El Nino or Arkstorm, What’s the Difference?
There is talk in the meteorological community about the possibility of a 100-year storm event hitting California and the West Coast. The last time that happened was in 1862 when the Great Flood of 1862 hit California, Oregon and Washington causing millions in property damage and many deaths. What is the cause of this talk?
It appears that we don’t have one but three “Blobs” as meteorologists are calling them of warmer water in the Gulf of Alaska and off the coast of California. It could happen that these blobs cause what has been described as an Arkstorm where precipitation from atmospheric rivers, or narrow bands of water vapor about a mile above sea level that extend for thousands of kilometers, drop a steady parade of rain storms on the West Coast. Such an event was briefly discussed by Nathan Cool in his most recent El Nino Update . Of course there is still a chance that we might not get any rain and enter a 5th year of drought. But even if that happens it is still important to be prepared for the worst. Preparing your buildings and grounds for a significant storm event is smart. To read about how to do that click here: Prepare for El Nino (or an Arkstorm)
