California braces for powerful cyclone, heavy rainfall, flash flood predicted for region
India TV NewsIn a significant development for the region, Northern California and the Pacific Northwest are bracing for a powerful cyclonic storm. The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks beginning on Tuesday and lasting through Friday as the strongest atmospheric river -- long plumes of moisture stretching far over the Pacific Ocean -- that California and the Pacific Northwest has seen this season bears down on the region. The storm system has intensified so quickly that it is considered a "bomb cyclone", explained Richard Bann, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center. In northern California, flood and high wind watches go into effect on Tuesday, with up to eight inches of rain predicted for parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, North Coast and Sacramento Valley. "Numerous flash floods, hazardous travel, power outages and tree damage can be expected as the storm reaches max intensity" on Wednesday, the Weather Prediction Center warned.