With large amounts of rainfall along the West Coast people are wondering if California is sinking. Though that is highly unlikely, there are concerns as California has seen more rain in the 11 days than in the last five years.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Service (NOAA), America’s Coastal & Ocean Agency, there is a natural yet rare occurrence called a bomb cyclone. A bomb cyclone is when cold air and warm air collide with each other creating a tornado-like storm underwater; these storms create winds of up to 85 MPH.

The state of California has deep valleys and large mountain ranges close to the Pacific Ocean. The bomb cyclones create clouds, and their high speed winds push clouds inland where they collect water. In the article “The science behind atmospheric river storms” from the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Gabriel Mountain range causes the clouds ro rise and the rain to fall resulting in floods across the state and Capitola, a coastal city in Northern California pier and many oceanside stores and restaurants were destroyed.

On the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) there was a sinkhole caused by rain that resulted in closure of one east bound lane on Malibu canyon road. A cold storm passed through Malibu on Jan. 12 that took a piece of PCH with it. There were no fatalities or injuries during the collapse. 

According to Paso Robles Daily News and Time Magazine, as of Jan. 11 floods have taken many lives and injured many more. “A combination of torrential rain, violent flooding and powerful wind in California has killed at least 17 people since Sunday,” the news outlets reported.

5-year-old boy Kyle Doan, a boy who was swept away from his mother after trying to leave their car that was being swept away by floods on Jan. 9   “following a weekend push to find , officials paused the search on Monday.” Moving forward, searches will take place on a limited basis, with day-to-day decisions on when they will occur, according to Cal Coast News.

The National Weather Service declared a risk of emergency –  urban flooding and mud debris falling down mountains stripped from their place originally by last year’s wildfires.

The rain seems to not be over as it is supposed to rain next week, which is the exact opposite of last year since we had record breaking wild fires.