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TropicalGraffiti t1_j322i7v wrote

I don't remember this many 'atmospheric rivers' as a kid 🤔

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BlankVerse OP t1_j32cgpr wrote

Because the weathermen called them a Pineapple Express back then.

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mynextthroway t1_j326nvu wrote

I do. In the 70s and 80s, this weather pattern was common. There was also no talk about the rains being unprecedented, indicating that while not necessarily normal, it was within the normal, expected range. That's just the normal for the west - flooding rain or drought with little in between.

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TropicalGraffiti t1_j327idm wrote

Really? That's surprising. I grew up in the 90s & 00s. I must not remember them. It was rare to see rain here. I know we get the occasional downpour. But we've been getting record rainfall. It's sorta concerning. I've been watching the trees outside my house for years and they keep turning later and later. It seems like the climate itself is shifting, little by little. But that's just my observation.

Thanks for your response btw. It's enlightening. Maybe it's just a new phrase coined?

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mynextthroway t1_j329ap5 wrote

I don't know the actual stats for the 90s, but it did seem as though California didn't make the news so often by th 90s. But, by then, I was finishing school and newly married, so my attention was elsewhere. And CNN/HNN/Weather Channel were showing freak weather from around the world. 70s-80s, 20 years of rain. 90s 10 years of transition, 00s-10s 20 years of drought. Now the 20s transition back to rain for the 30s and 40s. Time will tell.

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TropicalGraffiti t1_j329wuo wrote

I just remember one huge flood in 1998? I know my parents survived a flood in 1992. Their entire apartment was flooded out. Could just be the news cycle. Breaking News has been perpetual since 9/11. It's kinda annoying and minimizes truly important news...

I really hope we're not screwed. California is so beautiful 😔 I wish we had more climatologists in this sub lol

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Motor_Grand_8005 t1_j32fu17 wrote

Difference today is how it’s reported and social media. Historical data is sometimes overlooked. Doesn’t generate tv ratings or likes.

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Eru_started_it_all t1_j32i325 wrote

I think it was coined in 1994 and just started coming into use in the last 10 years or so by meteorologist.

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buzzwrong t1_j32eebu wrote

The amount of computer modeling that has progressed since then is astounding, and pretty necessary to understand something so complex as climate

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