Precipitable water vapor is the amount of water in a column of the atmosphere if all of the water vapor were condensed into liquid.

Pacific Standard Time on January 4, 2023. This map shows the total precipitable water vapor in the atmosphere at 5:30 a.m. Some areas south of Big Sur saw 6 to 8 inches of rain in 24 hours. About 1 to 3 inches of rain fell on communities near Santa Cruz and San Francisco on the evening of January 4, but the storm continued to drop rain on the Bay Area as it moved east on January 5. On the evening of January 4, wind speeds exceeded 100 miles per hour near Lake Tahoe. A plume of moisture from the tropical Pacific interacted with a low-pressure system that rapidly strengthened over the northeast Pacific, producing a storm that caused flooding, toppled trees, and downed power lines.Īccording to the National Weather Service, coastal areas of California saw wind speeds of 40 to 80 miles per hour. Just four days after heavy rain hit California, the state was drenched with another atmospheric river on January 4 and 5, 2023.

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