The latest atmospheric river to slam California brought damaging winds to the San Francisco Bay Area, felling trees and severing power to more than 300,000 customers, Andrew writes.

Driving the news: The storm also forced thousands to evacuate, and river flooding is continuing Wednesday.

The big picture: Climate change is increasing the odds and intensity of heavy rainfall events, including those from atmospheric rivers.

  • New research out Tuesday found the deadly heavy rainfall and associated floods that struck New Zealand in February were 30% more likely to occur in today’s human-altered climate than during preindustrial times, and about four times as intense.
  • The Washington Post has more on another extreme precipitation study out this week, which detected precipitation changes using satellites.