The first atmospheric river of the season is barreling toward Mendocino County, promising heavy rain, fierce winds, and potential flooding. The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a Winter Storm Warning for the Mendocino Coast and a Flood Watch countywide, effective from Wednesday morning through Friday.
What to Expect
This powerful storm will bring relentless rain and hazardous conditions:
- Rainfall: Up to 9 inches in some areas by Friday, with 4–5 inches expected between Wednesday and Thursday.
- Winds: Gusts up to 50 mph will make securing outdoor items critical.
- Flooding: Watch for rising creeks, swamped streets, and possible landslides.
The NWS warns, “Creeks and streams may rise out of their banks. Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas.”
Rivers in the Spotlight
- Russian River: Expected to stay below flood stage near Hopland, but low-lying areas are still at risk.
- Navarro River: Forecast to remain manageable, though State Routes 128 and 175 could see closures if water levels rise.
- Garcia River: Projected to peak at 7.5 feet, below the usual flood stage of 10 feet, but conditions could change.
Stay Ready, Stay Safe
Here’s how to prepare for the storm:
- Stock Up: Pack emergency kits with flashlights, food, water, and batteries.
- Storm-Proof Your Home: Clear gutters and secure outdoor items.
- Stay Alert: Follow weather updates and sign up for MendoReady alerts.
- Avoid Trouble: Never drive through floodwaters. “Turn around, don’t drown.”
Fort Bragg Gears Up
City crews are clearing storm drains, inspecting infrastructure, and coordinating with utility providers to respond to outages. Resources include:
- Sandbags: Pick them up at the CV Starr Center (300 S. Lincoln Street). Bring your own shovel.
- Charging Stations: Available at City Hall (416 N. Franklin St.) and the Police Department (250 Cypress St.) during outages.
- Emergency Shelter: Locations will be announced if needed.
What’s Next?
With the storm set to hit hard, conditions could deteriorate quickly. Stay informed through the City of Fort Bragg website and social media.
This atmospheric river is no small storm. Prepare now to stay safe and weather the deluge.
A big storm is comming. Rejoice.
Please add the Hubs &
Routes information to this article
Pray before you start your car, cuz you just never know. Please remember the roads are slick and slippery so DRIVE CAREFUL. Leave earlier than usual and be polite on the road. STAY OFF YOUR CELL PHONES and for Heavens sake…. Don’t drive with bald tires. God bless…. 🙂
I know this is a dumb question but haven’t we always had storms like this? Why are they called atmospheric now?
It’s beyond creepy how all media got together and started calling storms “bomb cyclones ” . So Orwellian. Isn’t water a good thing?
Paranoid much, honey?
Bomb cyclone is the “common” term for Explosive Cyclogenesis, coined in the 80s by 2 meteorologists who supported their findings on work done by 1 meteorologist in the 50s.
It is a meteorological phenomenon known as explosive cyclogenesis, or the rapid intensification of an extratropical low-pressure system. The term “bomb” refers to the process of “bombogenesis,” which is when a mid-latitude cyclone rapidly intensifies, dropping pressure at least 24 millibars over 24 hours. The “cyclone” part of the name refers to the rotation of the storm system, much like a tropical cyclone.
There’s no boogeyman there.
“Orwellian” does NOT apply, even slightly, except, maybe, for how you are trying to “spin” it.
Just measurable observations and facts presented by meteorologists and then repeated by journalists about an uncommon storm type that is comparable to a Cat 1 Hurricane.
This week, Cat 1 Hurricane force winds have been recorded on the Mattole Road (98mph) and at Crescent City Harbor (80mph).
And 8″-15″ of rain, or more, is expected in the hills in 4 days.
NOT a normal, or average, fall/winter storm.
Bomb cyclones are very unusual on the Pacific Coast of N America.
Much more expected, though, still not considered common, in the Great Lakes region and on the N Atlantic Coast of N America (from DC and north).
Please, people, this info is NOT hard to find from reputable and verifiable sources, if you actually look for it and read & comprehend it.
The 24 millibar drop in 24 hours in the low pressure cell is the definition of bombogenesis, along with its shape being a closed cell low. A cyclone shape. But it got named bomb cyclone because the pressure drops like a bomb. That’s what I read years ago. Not sure where. But it is a real term. Bombogenesis is not made up. NF is correct. This particular “Bomb Cyclone” dropped 60 millibars in 12 hours on Tuesday. From 990 millibars to 930. Of course NF there you go talking about your sources. Infallible information is all you ever post. Sense the sarcasm.
There was an engineering crew working off the coast(maybe seeking oil & gas) of Ventura. What they discovered in their cores of sediments was very large deposit every now and then separated by many smaller layers of sediment. They theorized that there were rivers of rain creating these de[posits, hence atmospheric rivers of rain that dumped as the stream of moisture came ashore. The MSM media has run with it.
The term atmospheric river was coined in 1994, but they have become more frequent and intense in recent years due to climate change. They used to be referred to as a Pineapple Express but bomb cyclone is a newer term and could have done some workshopping before committing to it. I prefer Pineapple Express. Whatever you call it there are massive puddles and if you hit them fast enough you can make a pretty good wave. ? on my BMX of course.
I think they just like big words. Member that George Carlin bit on calling the poor people “economically disadvantaged”. Once “they” take meaning from our words and thoughts, once they control our speech there will be no need to worry about it being free.
During the January 3-5 1982 superstorm in central California, roughly 2 feet of rain fell in the San Lorenzo Valley over a 32 hour period. The Love Creek neighborhood in Ben Lomond, CA had a major mudslide and 10 people were killed. My Dad thought that weather patterns in California had permanently changed to wet. These facts are disappearing from internet search results.
Realclimatescience.com
Tony Heller is archiving these facts. Didn’t be fooled by the news!
I lived in Santa Cruz County for over 30 years. A log jam on the San Lorenzo River broke the Soquel Ave. bridge in 1982. During the late 80s/early 90’s drought my dentist also thought that the weather patterns had permanently changed.
Scientists went public with the global warming scare in 1983. I read about in my school library. Over 41 years later and nothing comes true.
Western countries are going to go bankrupt with multi trillion dollar spending on failed wind, solar and EVs.
Summridge,
INCORRECT.
A Pineapple Express (PE) is an ENTIRELY different type of storm born out of the tropics around Hawaii, not the Arctic, and specific to the US & Canadian Pacific Coasts, only.
PE’s are very rarely cyclonic and do NOT produce the extreme pressure drops found in Bomb Cyclones.
Though, PE’s are definitively “strong” Atmospheric Rivers and often provide much warmer rains than are characteristic to fall/winter.
Example, ’96-’97 floods where it rained to 8000′ for weeks and melted months of Mt snow pack from CA to BC.
Correct-O-Mundo NF. Sometimes I wonder which English teacher’s butthole you became obsessed with licking.
NF. Partially incorrect. But I’m still gonna call it a Pineapple Express bc it sounds wayyy cooler than bomb cyclone or atmospheric river.
[…] in 2020 by a local resident named Matt LaFever, leads with a story published on Wednesday headlined “First atmospheric river of the season set to soak Mendocino County.” The article offers some nuts-and-bolts guidance on how residents should prepare. Public radio […]
The new terms are all used by the leftists to scare citizens into conforming. If you research these terms geographically, it is astonishing. California has 180% more use of atmospheric river, bomb cyclone terms than even Florida, Alaska and Hawaii combined!!! It comes from the same place as “trump is hitler, gop are nazis, etc”. It’s meant to scare a stupid liberal populace that is easily manipulated. Yes mendo that’s you. Yes California that is you.
Absolute fabricated out of thin air bullshit.
Your entirely false statement is born out of a complete lack of knowledge and awareness of the measurable and verifiable differing weather phenomena across varying geographical regions and the forces that cause them and why.
Some things just don’t happen in certain areas.
If your crap is to be believed, then the Midwest/Mississippi Valley and Southern Tornado Alleys MUST be liberal creations, not the fact that >80% of tornadoes in N America occur there naturally.
Just a little bit of education could solve your confusion. But you have to employ real logic (not the circular biased type) and critical thinking.
I wasn’t referring to the actual weather butinski, but the terms used to describe said weather. For example., tornadoes in Missouri would be “whirling death tubes” in California.
Ahhhhhhh thank you.
Jackson,
Interesting (not really), I was watching network news when the past 2 tornadoes formed & touched down not far from SAC.
Funy that, CBS, NBC, & Fox all referred to them as “a tornado”.
If you really have a viable point, BS’ing and embellishment won’t make the point for you. It just highlights a need for attention.
PS
Bomb Cyclones do NOT occur in the tropics, or sub-tropics, like Florida or Hawaii. Only occur in the mid latitudes and north of there.
The characteristics of these differing storms are very clearly measurable, verifiable, and distict from each other.
Atmospheric rivers are phenomena primarily observed on the West Coasts of N America & Europe.
Terms & phrases have very specific definitions.
Check it yourself.
It’s not hard to grasp.
Pay far more attention to verifiable facts and observations rather than non-expert talking head opinion jerkoffs peddling for marketing money and political power.
Opinion and fact are not the same.
Jackson. That’s because in the northern hemisphere, they mainly only happen on the West Coast of California. Mainly. It is a mid-latitude cyclone. They do happen other places on the globe but 90% are on the west coast.
90% is not a fact I actually located. It’s just a number I estimated based and being a weather geak living here my whole life. Along with my worthless Geography degree.
Jackson Moron , it appears you’re a bit wetter than anyone else commenting here. You are definitely a nonconformist! Just stay calm and crawl back into the comfort of your rabbit hole and find all the information you can on weather manipulation and weather weaponization . Be sure to report back when you’ve finished your research work to give us your findings! And have a big glass of chocolate milk to celebrate!
What a group of kool aid drinkers. Makes sense Jim jones set up shop in Ukiah.
1. When did we start calling them atmospheric rivers?
2. Alaska gets plenty of low pressure systems, but not described as bomb cyclones. They are winter storms. Watch Alaska news sometime people. You can stream it you know!!
3. Why do we in California get a PSPS every month? Because some huge corporation can’t keep their shoddy equipment running. So shut it all down and scare people.
The blinders in this county are always in place.
Everyone a a climate scientist genius now? Copying some crap off Wikipedia.
Fact is the term bomba-genesis was first coined by my wife 6 years ago when my son had a particularly massive bowel movement that blew out his diaper..
How about “heavy rainfall”, like in the old days.
Are we still here after that bombastic bombardment of bombaceous bombay-like blast of tiny bombs of water dropping from the sky in a swirling stix river-like pattern of death from above? Has the atmosphere washed us downstream and out into the cosmic ocean yet?