'Atmospheric Rivers' Bring Storms to California
2023-03-24
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1A rare tornado touched down near Los Angeles on Wednesday.
2It followed another major storm that hit the state of California on Tuesday.
3The violent weather brought heavy rain and snow from the Pacific Ocean.
4It caused floods, moved earth, uprooted trees, and forced thousands of Californians to leave their homes.
5The National Weather Service said Tuesday's storm was a weather system connected to the 12th so-called atmospheric river since late December.
6Atmospheric rivers are long and wide areas, like a river, of water vapor in the atmosphere that forms over an ocean.
7The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says these weather systems carry as much water vapor as the average flow of water at the mouth of the Mississippi River.
8When atmospheric rivers make landfall, they often release this water vapor in the form of rain or snow.
9Atmospheric rivers come in many shapes and sizes.
10The largest of those can create strong winds and can cause extreme rainfall and floods.
11They can cause large amounts of damage to property and life.
12But atmospheric rivers are an important part of the world's water cycle.
13In the western part of the United States, they bring snow to the Sierra Mountains in the winter.
14The snow then melts and releases water in the spring and summer for power, farming, and drinking water for millions of people.
15The Tuesday storm arrived on the second official day of spring.
16The National Weather Service office in the San Francisco area wrote, "Wow. Even by the standards of what has turned out to be one of our most extraordinary winter seasons in a very long time, yesterday ... stands out."
17In the San Francisco area, windows were blown out from two tall buildings in the city.
18A train carrying 55 passengers struck a downed tree and derailed near the village of Porta Costa.
19Parts of California had winds of 97 to 113 kilometers per hour.
20Officials confirmed five deaths related to the storm when trees fell onto their vehicles and a tent.
21California Office of Emergency Services said more than 14,000 people statewide were under orders to find higher ground because of flooding.
22Evacuation warnings were issued for another 47,000 Californians.
23PowerOutage.us found nearly 250,000 homes and businesses were without electricity statewide.
24The repeated Pacific storms during the past three months, however, have brought much-needed snow and water to California after years of dry weather and wildfires.
25The state's Department of Water Resources says California has now received 147 percent of average rainfall so far this season.
26I'm Gregory Stachel.
1A rare tornado touched down near Los Angeles on Wednesday. It followed another major storm that hit the state of California on Tuesday. 2The violent weather brought heavy rain and snow from the Pacific Ocean. It caused floods, moved earth, uprooted trees, and forced thousands of Californians to leave their homes. 3The National Weather Service said Tuesday's storm was a weather system connected to the 12th so-called atmospheric river since late December. 4Atmospheric rivers 5Atmospheric rivers are long and wide areas, like a river, of water vapor in the atmosphere that forms over an ocean. 6The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says these weather systems carry as much water vapor as the average flow of water at the mouth of the Mississippi River. When atmospheric rivers make landfall, they often release this water vapor in the form of rain or snow. 7Atmospheric rivers come in many shapes and sizes. The largest of those can create strong winds and can cause extreme rainfall and floods. They can cause large amounts of damage to property and life. 8But atmospheric rivers are an important part of the world's water cycle. In the western part of the United States, they bring snow to the Sierra Mountains in the winter. The snow then melts and releases water in the spring and summer for power, farming, and drinking water for millions of people. 9Storm effects on California 10The Tuesday storm arrived on the second official day of spring. 11The National Weather Service office in the San Francisco area wrote, "Wow. Even by the standards of what has turned out to be one of our most extraordinary winter seasons in a very long time, yesterday ... stands out." 12In the San Francisco area, windows were blown out from two tall buildings in the city. A train carrying 55 passengers struck a downed tree and derailed near the village of Porta Costa. 13Parts of California had winds of 97 to 113 kilometers per hour. Officials confirmed five deaths related to the storm when trees fell onto their vehicles and a tent. 14California Office of Emergency Services said more than 14,000 people statewide were under orders to find higher ground because of flooding. Evacuation warnings were issued for another 47,000 Californians. 15PowerOutage.us found nearly 250,000 homes and businesses were without electricity statewide. 16The repeated Pacific storms during the past three months, however, have brought much-needed snow and water to California after years of dry weather and wildfires. 17The state's Department of Water Resources says California has now received 147 percent of average rainfall so far this season. 18I'm Gregory Stachel. 19Gregory Stachel adpated this story for Learning English with reporting from Reuters and The Associated Press. 20____________________________________________________________________ 21Words in This Story 22tornado - n. a violent and destructive storm in which powerful winds move around a central point 23vapor - n. a substance that is in the form of a gas or that consists of very small drops or particles mixed with the air 24cycle - n. a set of events or actions that happen again and again in the same order 25wow - intj. used to show that you are very surprised or pleased 26derail - v. to leave its tracks 27tent - n. a portable shelter that is used outdoors, is made of cloth (such as canvas or nylon), and is held up with poles and ropes 28____________________________________________________________________ 29What do you think of this story? 30We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 31Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.