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What is an atmospheric river?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:03 GMT

An atmospheric river is a plume of moisture that helps carry saturated air from the tropics to higher latitudes, delivering unrelenting rain or snow.Think of it as a fire hose that aims at — then drenches — a particular region.Typically 250 to 375 miles wide, atmospheric rivers can stretch more than a thousand miles long, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says.In the western US, they account for 30% to 50% of annual precipitation.While atmospheric rivers are an incredibly important source of rainfall, they can also bring flash flooding, mudslides and landslides, sometimes killing people and destroying property.“When atmospheric rivers pass over land they can cause conditions similar to those of hurricanes with intense and rapid rainfall, cyclone force winds, and significantly increased wave heights,” NOAA says.An atmospheric river is a plume of moisture that helps carry saturated air from the tropics to higher latitudes, delivering unrelenting rain or snow.(CNN Wea...

Klay Thompson urges Warriors to stay present as road struggles continue

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:03 GMT

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Warriors have maintained the position that once they’re healthy and full again, they’ll have no issue turning their game up another notch.In fact, coach Steve Kerr reiterated that point the other day in pregame.“We believe that if we are whole, we can beat anybody because we’ve proven it,” Kerr said Tuesday. “We proved that last year.”But the Warriors have to make it to the postseason for that to happen. And with 16 games left and their playoff seeding in balance, there’s no guarantee that they’ll be around past the second week of April.Golden State is tied with the Los Angeles Clippers for the fifth seed in the Western Conference postseason running heading into Thursday’s highly anticipated rematch in Memphis against the Grizzlies. While a win could launch the Warriors into taking sole possession of the fifth spot in the standing, a loss could sink them down as far as eighth since the Minnesota Timberwo...

Klay Thompson urges Warriors to stay present as road showings threaten playoff push

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:03 GMT

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Warriors have maintained the position that once they’re healthy and full again, they’ll have no issue turning their game up another notch.In fact, coach Steve Kerr reiterated that point the other day in pregame.“We believe that if we are whole, we can beat anybody because we’ve proven it,” Kerr said Tuesday. “We proved that last year.”But the Warriors have to make it to the postseason for that to happen. And with 16 games left and their playoff seeding in balance, there’s no guarantee that they’ll be around past the second week of April.Golden State is tied with the Los Angeles Clippers for the fifth seed in the Western Conference postseason running heading into Thursday’s highly anticipated rematch in Memphis against the Grizzlies. While a win could launch the Warriors into taking sole possession of the fifth spot in the standing, a loss could sink them down as far as eighth since the Minnesota Timberwo...

La Nina, which worsens Atlantic hurricanes and western drought, is gone

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:03 GMT

By SETH BORENSTEIN | Associated PressWASHINGTON — After three nasty years, the La Nina weather phenomenon that increases Atlantic hurricane activity and worsens western drought is gone, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday.That’s usually good news for the United States and other parts of the world, including drought-stricken northeast Africa, scientists said.The globe is now in what’s considered a “neutral” condition and probably trending to an El Nino in late summer or fall, said climate scientist Michelle L’Heureux, head of NOAA’s El Nino/La Nina forecast office.“It’s over,” said research scientist Azhar Ehsan, who heads Columbia University’s El Nino/La Nina forecasting. “Mother Nature thought to get rid of this one because it’s enough.”La Nina is a natural and temporary cooling of parts of the Pacific Ocean that changes weather worldwide. In the United States, because La Nina is connected to more Atlantic storms and deeper droughts and wildfires in th...

After WCC title blowout loss, Saint Mary’s regroups for NCAA Tournament run

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:03 GMT

Within 30 minutes of his team’s worst performance in two years, Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett was moving forward to something he hasn’t always been able to do.He was looking ahead to the NCAA Tournament and what the Gaels must do to make sure they stick around for more than one game.The Gaels were run out of Las Vegas by Gonzaga in Tuesday night’s West Coast Conference tournament championship game, losing 77-51 after trailing by as many as 37 points. Even so, they are certain to hear their name called on NCAA Selection Sunday, by virtue of not only a 26-7 record but also a still-sturdy No. 10 spot in the NET computer rankings.ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi’s updated NCAA projections have the Gaels as a No. 6 seed — down just one spot after the lopsided defeat.Just getting the program’s ninth NCAA bid since 2005 isn’t enough. Not for Bennett or this team, which won a share of the WCC regular-season title, beat Gonzaga in their first meeting this season and was top-seeded in...

Housing development could sprout at San Jose fast-food restaurant site

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:03 GMT

SAN JOSE — A housing development could sprout on the site of a fast-food restaurant in San Jose that would be cleared away to accommodate the project.The proposed residential complex would occur at 1999 Camden Avenue, across the street from Cambrian Park Plaza, a shopping center with a familiar carousel where a massive redevelopment has been in the works for years.The residential project at the northeast corner of Camden Avenue and Union Avenue is being proposed on a 0.5-acre site, according to preliminary plans on file with San Jose city officials.Abode Communities has proposed the development of 90 apartments on the site, the city documents show.Related ArticlesHousing | Bay Area apartments land local buyers Housing | Leaving California? Here are the healthiest states to consider Housing | Adobe’s new tower symbolizes tech titan’s San Jose commitment Housing | Adobe broadens commitments to its San Jose ho...

Where does the California drought stand heading into spring?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:03 GMT

California's snowpack is as healthy as it has been in years, and reservoirs across the state have steadily crept back to typical seasonal levels all winter. So can we take a long shower without feeling guilty now? Even though the storms have brought much-needed moisture to the state and boosted mountain snowpack, it will not be enough to fully reverse the impact of many dry winters and broader climate patterns that have crippled California's water supply, experts told KTLA. Why California’s wet winter won’t be a drought-buster “While recent rain and snow have been promising, it will take more than a single wet year for California to fully recover from the last three years – the driest ever recorded in state history,” Karla Nemeth, the director of California’s Department of Water Resources, told KTLA.While some cities benefit from the snowpack runoff, others depend on groundwater or local reservoirs for the bulk of their local water supply. As a result, recovery from the drought m...

The War in Ukraine Is Just Getting Started

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:03 GMT

For nearly a decade in the 1980s, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and the newly founded Islamic Republic of Iran waged a merciless war against each other. The fighting saw the return of World War I-style human-wave offensives, trench warfare, and chemical weapons attacks.Though it dragged on for years, the Iran-Iraq war benefited neither side. In the end, the conflict claimed the lives of over a million people, since, despite the carnage and wishes of ordinary people on both sides to end it, no diplomatic solution proved possible over eight years of fighting.There is good reason to worry that this ugly history is repeating itself today in Eastern Europe.Like the Iran-Iraq war, the war in Ukraine was triggered by an expansionist dictator hoping to make quick work of a neighbor whom he had wrongly predicted would prove incapable of defending itself. Now, over a year into the fighting, the conflict, which has already claimed hundreds of thousands of casualties by some estimates, has ground to a ...

Australia to buy nuclear-powered submarines made in the US

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:03 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Australia will purchase U.S.-manufactured, nuclear-powered attack submarines to modernize its fleet, a European official and a person familiar with the matter said Thursday, amid growing concerns about China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region.The purchase agreement for Virginia-class submarines will be announced Monday when President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meet in San Diego for talks on the 18-month-old nuclear partnership known by the acronym AUKUS. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter ahead of the announcement.The AUKUS agreement, announced in 2021, paved the way for Australia to get access to nuclear-powered submarines, which are stealthier and more capable than conventionally powered boats.“We all recognize the imperative of ensuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific over the long term,” Biden said in September 2021 when the partnership was announc...

Kansas coach Self to miss Big 12 tourney game with illness

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:03 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas coach Bill Self will miss the seventh-ranked Jayhawks’ quarterfinal game against West Virginia in the Big 12 Tournament on Thursday with what the school called an undisclosed illness.Kansas officials announced the news about five hours before tipoff between the top-seeded Jayhawks and eighth-seeded Mountaineers. Assistant Norm Roberts will serve as the acting coach; he filled the same role earlier in the season when Self served a school-imposed four-game suspension.The Jayhawks are the defending Big 12 Tournament champions and are trying to secure a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament, where they will attempt to defend the national championship they won last April.“Self is doing well and receiving great care at the University of Kansas Health System,” the school said Thursday in a statement. It did not say whether Self would be back should the Jayhawks advance to the semifinals.The 60-year-old Hall of Fame coach led Kansas to the regular-season ch...