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The 'Weather Bomb' Is A Blessing And A Curse For California

The strongest storm to hit California in years battered the coast with heavy rains and high winds.

By: Grant Suneson

Posted at 1:38 PM, Feb 18, 2017

and last updated 2017-02-18 13:38:00-05

Heavy rains that hit Southern California were caused by a phenomenon sometimes called a "weather bomb."

"The word 'bomb' is short for a legitimate meteorological term called bombogenesis. It has to do with the strength of a storm. ... So a one millibar drop per hour. That's the technical definition of a bomb storm," meteorologist Ari Sarsalari said on The Weather Channel.

The bombogensis drenched typically dry parts of California during the week, which lead to flash flood warnings.

The storm also brought wind gusts up to 80 miles per hour, which toppled trees and knocked out power for more than 100,000 people. The weather was blamed for at least two deaths.

The storm did boost California's water supply after a yearslong drought.

And the rain isn't letting up. California is expected to get 10 trillion gallons more precipitation throughout the next week.