Heat on the Tibetan Plateau linked to record California rainfall, study finds

A new study identifies a climate teleconnection in which abnormally warm temperatures on the Tibetan Plateau in late 2016 and early 2023 intensified atmospheric rivers and triggered record-setting rainfall across California and nearby Western states in 2017 and 2023, causing about $6.6 billion in damage and at least nine deaths. The link, documented through observations and modeling, could improve forecasts and warnings for West Coast weather, although such events have historically been hard to predict with ocean-focused predictors.