Come hell or high water!

Three catastrophic weather events -- atmospheric rivers -- in a row have subjected California to flash floods from northern to southern CA, heavy snow for the Sierra and northern and southern CA mountains, damage from extreme waves battering the coast, and high wind for much of the state. http://weather.gov  

After months of drought, these atmospheric rivers have dumped excessive amounts of moisture on much of the state, inundating roads, causing mudslides, uprooting trees, and flooding vineyards. And there's more on the way, with heavy flooding and up to 7.5 inches of rainfall expected through Tuesday of this coming week in parts of the state. Napa Valley is reporting the most severe flooding in the area since 1995. 

Trees stressed by three years of drought, gave in to the torrential rains and high winds, falling on homes, roads, and power lines. Heavy snow in the mountains closed roads. But will it be enough to end the drought? That remains to be seen, as the land is so waterlogged it cannot absorb the rain. Heat, drought, flood — hell or high water seems to be the cycle.

The silver lining: it appears that the rains and snow are alleviating some of the severe drought conditons.