New atmospheric river storm barrels toward California

California is bracing for the arrival of an atmospheric river that forecasters warn will bring heavy rain, strong winds, thunderstorms and the threat of flooding even as the state is still digging out from earlier storms. The flood threat starting Thursday will come from the combination of rain and melting of parts of the huge snowpack built in California’s mountains by nine atmospheric rivers early in the winter and later storms fueled by a blast of arctic air. The new atmospheric river is known as a “Pineapple Express” because it is a deep tap of warm subtropical moisture stretching over the Pacific to Hawaii. Its greatest impacts are expected in northern and central California.