<img class="alignnone size-full" src="https://www.motherjones.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/floods_C_642.jpg" alt="Stereoscope photo of J Street in Sacramento during the 1862 flood." width="642" height="317" /><em>Stereoscope photo of J Street in Sacramento during the 1862 flood. Charles L. Weed/California State Library</em>

In addition to wildfires and earthquakes, California also experiences floods. Sometimes they can be massive and devastating floods. A meteorological phenomenon known as 'atmospheric rivers' can unleash huge amounts of moisture onto the California land surface. Occurring once every one to two hundred years, the USGS refers to these events as ARkStorms. The last such event took place in 1861-62. For further information, visit <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/natural-hazards/science-application-risk-reduction/science/arkstorm-scenario?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ARkStorm Scenario</a> and <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2020/08/california-flood-arkstorm-farmland-climate-change/?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=naytev&amp;utm_medium=social" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Biblical Flood That Will Drown California</a>.