There has been a lot of talk about the term “atmospheric river” in the last month or so. Some feel the term is now being overused or even misused. So what is an atmospheric river?

The term first appeared in modern scientific literature in the early 1990s and generated quite a debate among atmospheric scientists and climatologists about the term’s meaning. Since then, a definition of the term was established in the Glossary of Meteorology . Read on for the full definition below.

In short, an atmospheric river is a stream of moisture from tropical or subtropical sources that is transported into mid-latitude storm systems, producing copious amounts of rainfall with relatively high snow levels. This feature is actually quite common around the globe and contributes significantly to the bulk

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