Publication: USA Today

UCLA Expert: Daniel Swain: Assistant Researcher and Climate Specialist, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability

Synopsis: The deep snowpack at higher elevations raises risks of structural collapses.

UCLA News: "In some ways, it's almost worse that (the snowpack) is absorbing all this water," Swain said. In addition, he said that throughout Northern California, this storm will probably bring a significant increase in slope failures — mudslides, landslides and debris flows — because soils are now saturated. He added that although there will be some flood risk associated with this warm and wet storm, he is more concerned about the risk of additional warm atmospheric rivers in mid March. "If we get successive warm atmospheric rivers, that's when big problems would begin."

Read more at USA Today.