California’s ‘big melt’ has begun and could bring perilous flooding with it

Spring has offered California a welcome reprieve from the record rains and historic snowfall that hammered the state in recent weeks, but a new danger wrought by the warming weather looms large. The state’s enormous snowpack will soon begin to melt – and communities are bracing for waters to rise yet again. Trillions of gallons of water packed within the record level of snow blanketing the Sierra Nevada range are expected to rush into rivers and reservoirs as the weather heats up, heightening flood risks in areas already saturated by the state’s extremely wet winter.

tips

melt：融化

perilous：危险的

loom large：令人忧虑

loom：逐渐逼近；隐约显现

reprieve：暂时解救；缓刑

hammer：n. 锤子 🔨；v. 捶打；敲打；猛踢

wrought：（变化）造成了；a. 精细的

enormous：巨大的

brace：支架；背带；大括号；v. 做准备

gallon：加仑

blanket：毛毯；覆盖

reservoir：贮水池；vt. 储藏（reserve 储备；自然保护区；储备金；vt. 保留，保存，预定，延期，推迟）

heat：热；温度；加热（区别于 heart 心跳）

saturate：饱和的；vt. 浸透