Just Google “atmospheric river” and – BAM! – the doom and gloom is in your face: “Atmospheric river will blast California with heavy rain and snow ‘measured in feet”! “Risk of significant California flooding”! “California will be pummeled”! So what is this big bad “river” in the sky that the meteorologists and their media waterboys keep screaming will be upon us starting this weekend? And must they really make it look as if the sky were, well, falling? News reports are warning us to brace for both flood-worthy rainfall and a ton of snow in the Sierras.