After an epic windstorm, California is now bracing for bone chilling cold that will bring snow to virtually every part of the state.
“It generally happens on the scale from every 5 to 10 years,” said Brian Garcia, a National Weather Service Meteorologist.
This winter alone has gone from drought to atmospheric rivers flooding the region. The extreme weather, an example of what the National Weather Service meteorologists are calling a “weather whiplash.”
“This drought over the last few years, we busted that in about a week and a half. So, we are starting to see that whiplash of drought to rain and back again,” Garcia said.
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The same storm system heading for the Bay Wednesday night is prompting the first blizzard warning on record in Los Angeles County.
While California bundles up, the southeast is experiencing near record heat with temperatures in the 90’s for parts of Florida.
“Extreme cold, extreme rain, extreme heat and even extreme drought they are all becoming more likely,” SJSU Professor Alison Bridger.
But how much of this can be contributed to climate change? Bridger explains when you look at all these extreme weather events together.
“You can’t find exact fingerprints of climate change on one event, but when there are so many events not just in America but worldwide, it becomes very obvious that this is an impact of climate change," she said.
