California is facing two winter storms

Heavy rain fell on California on Thursday, flooding some roads and issuing flood warnings, due to a storm that will be followed by a second winter depression.

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Today's heavy rains are drained by an “atmospheric river,” a massive rain corridor that carries stored water vapor into the tropical regions surrounding Hawaii.

As of Wednesday, significant rain fell in Northern California. San Francisco recorded up to an inch of rain per hour, according to the US Weather Service (NWS).

The southern Golden State and Los Angeles were affected Thursday morning. Some roads in the city were extensively flooded, and part of the Pacific Coast Highway, a highway popular with many tourists because of its stunning coastal views, was closed.

Some sewers overflowed and local television showed cars submerged in water at an intersection.

Snow in the mountains east of Los Angeles is expected to reach 45 cm on Thursday.

But authorities are particularly concerned about a second winter depression on the horizon, which threatens to cause landslides and major flooding.

The National Weather Service warned that the “largest storm of the season” could begin on Sunday.

Meteorologists stressed that “the exact timing, intensity and amount (of rain) are still uncertain, but it is very likely that it will be a dangerous storm that will last for two or three days.”

The US West Coast endured an unusually wet winter last year, caused by a series of close together storms that delivered near-record rainfall.

These disasters killed more than twenty people and caused severe damage and power outages.

However, this rainfall allowed California to replenish its water reserves after several years of severe drought.

Historically, California has alternated between periods of heat and heavy rain, and it is always difficult to link a specific weather event to climate change.

However, scientists have been warning for years that global warming is disrupting the climate and increasing the frequency of extreme events, whether storms or heat waves.