From Stanford News– When multiple atmospheric rivers hit California back-to-back, the economic damage from resulting rain and snowfall is three to four times higher than predicted from individual storms, a Stanford study finds. The insight could help water managers and disaster planners better prepare for future impacts of climate change. Atmospheric rivers are long, narrow bands of water vapor that travel from the tropics. At their strongest, these systems can carry up to 15 times the amount of water flowing out of the Mississippi River. When all this moisture hits the U.S. West Coast it cools and condenses into rain and snow. Atmospheric rivers provide roughly half of California’s annual precipitation, restoring the state’s snowpack and filling reservoirs, but the storms can also cause significant damage, especially when they arrive in groups. (more)