{"id":27123,"date":"2025-05-03T09:30:06","date_gmt":"2025-05-03T09:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=27123"},"modified":"2025-05-03T10:26:03","modified_gmt":"2025-05-03T10:26:03","slug":"one-of-the-weather-worlds-biggest-buzzwords-expands-its-reach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=27123","title":{"rendered":"One of the Weather World\u2019s Biggest Buzzwords Expands Its Reach"},"content":{"rendered":"

To many, atmospheric rivers are a West Coast phenomenon. But they\u2019re also responsible for the devastating flooding that hit the Central United States in early April.<\/p>\n

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For people on the West Coast, atmospheric rivers, a weather phenomenon that can bring heavy rain or snow from San Diego to Vancouver, are as common a feature of winter as Nor\u2019easters are in Boston.<\/p>\n

Like those East Coast storms, \u201catmospheric river\u201d can feel like a buzzword \u2014 more attention grabbing than just \u201cheavy rain,\u201d even if that is how most people walking down the streets of San Francisco will experience it. But it is also a specific meteorological phenomenon that describes the moisture-rich storms that develop over the Pacific Ocean and dump precipitation when they collide with the mountain ranges of Washington, Oregon and California.<\/p>\n

These plumes of exceptionally wet air transported through the atmosphere by strong winds are not unique to the West Coast, though. They occur around the world, and a growing number of meteorologists and scientists are beginning to apply the term to storms east of the Rocky Mountains. When days of heavy rain caused deadly flooding in the central and southern United States this spring, AccuWeather<\/a> pinned the unusual weather on an \u201catmospheric river.\u201d So did CNN.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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While some researchers hope to see the term become more widely adopted, not all meteorologists are doing this, including those at the National Weather Service. At the center of the debate is a struggle over how forecasters describe the day\u2019s weather.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\n
\n Two maps showing examples of a Pacific and Atlantic atmospheric river using
\n satellite data.\n <\/div>\n

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Eastern atmospheric river<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Western atmospheric river<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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April 5<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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March 30<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Atmospheric rivers in the<\/p>\n

Pacific flow toward the West<\/p>\n

Coast, where they encounter<\/p>\n

mountain ranges.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Warm moist air comes up<\/p>\n

from Central America, the<\/p>\n

Caribbean and the Gulf.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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Western atmospheric river<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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March 30<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Atmospheric rivers in the<\/p>\n

Pacific flow toward the West<\/p>\n

Coast, where they encounter<\/p>\n

mountain ranges.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Eastern atmospheric river<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

April 5<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Warm moist air comes up<\/p>\n

from Central America, the<\/p>\n

Caribbean and the Gulf.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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Western atmospheric river<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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March 30<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Atmospheric rivers in the<\/p>\n

Pacific flow toward the West<\/p>\n

Coast, where they encounter<\/p>\n

mountain ranges.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Eastern atmospheric river<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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April 5<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Warm moist air comes up<\/p>\n

from Central America, the<\/p>\n

Caribbean and the Gulf.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/div>\n