SUN VALLEY, CA - FEBRUARY 17: The busy I5 freeway is shut down in both direction because of flooding as a powerful storm moves across Southern California on February 17, 2017 in Sun Valley, California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
New research predicts California faces more weather extremes, including so-called "horizontal hurricanes." That's a new name for what have also been called "atmospheric rivers" that dump huge amounts of rain over a short period, leading to flooding and landslides.
The journal "Geophysical Research Letters" suggest Pacific weather systems are carrying more water and increasing in intensity much the way Atlantic hurricanes are. Since the beginning of 2016, Sonoma County researchers have been leading a team working on a 19-million-dollar system, which could triple the advance warning of damaging storms from less than one-week to up to three-weeks.