Atmospheric river to wallop California as study finds storms getting worse

Thunderstorms and high winds forecast for San Francisco Bay while southern California under flood watch

A powerful atmospheric river storm was set to wallop California on Wednesday evening, drenching large swaths of the state with rain and bringing several feet of snow to the mountains - the latest in a wave of intense storms that new research shows are getting worse.

Much of northern California was under a winter storm warning because of the gusty winds and heavy snow in the forecast that the National Weather Service (NWS) said would lead to difficult to impossible travel conditions". Severe thunderstorms and high winds were predicted across the San Francisco Bay area, according to reports.