New atmospheric river storm pushes into California

By JOHN ANTCZAK
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The first in a new series of atmospheric rivers has pushed into California and forecasters warn that widespread heavy rain will raise the threat of flooding in a state still digging out from earlier storms. Rain spread across the north Thursday but forecasters said the heart of the atmospheric river wouldn’t arrive until late in the day, then last into early Friday. The flood threat will come from the combination of rain and melting of lower portions of the huge snowpack built in California’s mountains by nine atmospheric rivers early in the winter and later storms fueled by a blast of arctic air. The new atmospheric river is known as a “Pineapple Express” because it originates near Hawaii.