New England was still recovering Friday from a bout of extreme weather that dumped rainfall across the region and left tens of thousands of residents without power.
The midweek storm, fueled by a weather system known as an atmospheric river, produced wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour and likely gave Providence, Rhode Island, its wettest winter day on record — with as much as 5 inches of rain, according to preliminary reports.
Atmospheric rivers aren’t new to meteorologists, but they are notoriously difficult to predict.
Like their earthbound counterparts, atmospheric rivers move massive amounts of water. They can carry through the air a volume of water vapor that’s equivalent to more than 10 times the water flow at the mouth of the Mississippi River.
