Record heavy rain in the western United States, put out even large wildfires… An unexpected function?

Record-breaking torrential rain fell in the western state of California, the United States. Heavy rains and storms have caused flooding and landslides in parts of the state. Hundreds of thousands of people suffered inconvenience as the power supply was also cut off. Even the wildfires in California, which were raging fiercely, could not overcome the power of nature. The fire could not be put out for several months, but it is said that most of it was extinguished thanks to this heavy rain.

The National Weather Service (NWS) said on the 25th (local time) that rainfall in California reached a maximum of 280 millimeters in the mountainous Marin County and 100 millimeters in downtown San Francisco. San Francisco has the fourth highest rainfall on record. In Sacramento, the state capital, 132 millimeters of rain fell in 24 hours, setting the record for the highest daily rainfall since 1880.

A strong wind followed along with the heavy rain. The Associated Press reported that two giant cranes collapsed because of the wind on the John F McCarthy Bridge, which connects Richmond and San Rafael, near San Francisco. In San Jose, the water level in a tributary and reservoir of a river rose rapidly, and two residents and a dog were rescued after hanging from a submerged tree in the river. Damage also occurred in Oregon and Washington in northern California. Two people were killed when a large tree fell and hit a vehicle near Seattle, the news agency said.

There were also power outages. Pacific Gas & Energy (PG&E), an electric company that supplies electricity to the area, said that electricity supply was cut off to 370,000 homes and shopping malls in California and nearby areas since the afternoon of the previous day in connection with the heavy rain and strong winds. However, the company added that electricity supply was resumed in most areas on the same day after emergency repair work.

There were also unexpected pure features. The torrential rains have depleted northern California after a prolonged drought, the Associated Press reported. In addition, severe wildfires near California are appearing to be subsiding. Local forestry officials said most of the fires in Dixie, the second-largest wildfire in California history, were extinguished by heavy rains. Another large wildfire, Calder, was also caught. Christie Brigham, Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park Science Director, sighed: “This amount of rainfall is what we call an end-of-season event.”

The unusual heavy rain is analyzed as an effect of climate change. Justin Mankin, a professor of geography at Dartmouth College, told the Associated Press that the shift from drought to record heavy rainfall will continue to recur due to climate change. The Washington Post, an American daily, said about the heavy rain, “The cause of this heavy rain is the ‘atmospheric stream’, which forms a narrow and long atmospheric layer containing moisture due to the influence of low pressure formed in the tropics. It is level 5, the highest level among the levels.”

Jinwook Kim reporter kimjinuk@hankookilbo.com