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A menacing storm taking shape over the Pacific is poised to pound California this weekend, causing what could be the worst flooding in parts of the state in more than a decade, forecasters said. The atmospheric river of warm and highly concentrated water will begin to deliver its payload across the northern two-thirds of California on Saturday, overwhelming rivers, drenching urban areas and likely eviscerating much of the Sierra snowpack. But while drought-stressed California has begged for such soaking storms in recent years, the rain may do more harm than good — especially in the mountains — when it surges Sunday.

The outgoing Obama administration on Wednesday tried to nudge forward Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal to build two giant north-south water tunnels for California. In an executive order, U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell directed federal wildlife officials on Wednesday to release by Jan. 17 a preliminary environmental opinion that directs the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to assist as the $15.7 billion project seeks state and federal permits and other approvals. Brown welcomed Jewell’s move, saying in a statement “it commits the federal government to a timely review” of the proposed tunnels.

On Tuesday, state water officials trudged into the Sierra Nevada for the first snowpack survey of 2017. Snowpack levels are crucial indicators of whether California will have enough water after the winter, as the melting snow flows into the state’s reservoirs. The reading at Phillips Station, near Lake Tahoe, however, is a largely ceremonial exercise, attracting attention in part for its visual interest. (See photos below.) After dipping poles into the snow, surveyors said the snowpack there was at roughly half the historical average.