Northern Californians are now living the other extreme.  Drought, heat and wildfires have turned into deluges of rain. A storm called a “bomb cyclone” hit the state over the weekend bringing flooding and power outages.  NPR writes:

Drenching showers and strong winds accompanied the weekend’s arrival of the atmospheric river — a long and wide plume of moisture pulled in from the Pacific Ocean.

The storm soaking the Bay Area on Sunday was tied as the third-strongest since 1950 on the Bay Area Storm Index, and the strongest in 26 years, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Hundreds of thousands of Californians were without power over the weekend. But most worrisome are the areas hardest hit by wildfires.  NPR adds;

Burn areas remain a concern for officials, as land devoid of vegetation can’t soak up heavy rainfall as quickly, increasing the likelihood of flash flooding.

“If you are in the vicinity of a recent burn scar and haven’t already, prepare now for likely debris flows,” the Sacramento weather service tweeted. “If you are told to evacuate by local officials, or you feel threatened, do not hesitate to do so. If it is too late to evacuate, get to higher ground.”

While San Francisco tallied more than four inches of rain, many areas got twice that.

The rain was good news for Lake Tahoe.  The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

Data from the U.S. Geological Survey shows that water levels at the Tahoe City dam, near the outlet of the Truckee River, rose almost a half of a foot in 24 hours. Meanwhile, more than 2 feet of snow accumulated on the mountaintops surrounding the Tahoe Basin.