California has been pummeled this week by powerful storms that have been influenced by the climate pattern El Niño.
The storms have dumped feet of snow on mountains that were nearly barren this time last year, while at the coast the storm systems produced larger-than-normal surf with some waves topping out near 20 feet, according to the Associated Press.
El Niño tends to lead to wetter-than-average winters in California, with more strong storms likely during the next several weeks.