California is in the midst of a strong atmospheric river that's caused flooding, evacuations, road closures, and mention of it is all over the news and social media. And this comes on the heel of ...

The water is moved over the ocean in the form of water vapor, not a "river" in the way we think of them on land. They tend to move through the atmosphere in streams between 250 and 375 miles wide.

A well-known type of atmospheric river is called a "Pineapple Express" because it flows from the Hawaiian Islands. Strong ARs transport water vapor roughly equivalent to 7.5 to 15 times the ...

In recent years, “atmospheric river” has become used much more frequently in scientific papers and in media coverage. According to experts who study climate and weather, a couple reasons may ...