Atmospheric River To Drench California In The Coming Days

Here are the morning’s top stories on Thursday, November 13, 2025…

• Heavy rain and winds are forecast throughout California as a strong atmospheric river makes its way through the Golden State.
• For the first time in 30 years, the U.S. has not sent a delegation to the United Nations annual climate summit. President Trump has called climate change a hoax and his administration says attending would mean pursuing vague climate goals. But delegates from California and its cities, including Governor Gavin Newsom, are there, attempting to fill the void. 
• A former top aide to Governor Newsom was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on 23 counts, including bank and wire fraud.

Storm Expected To Bring Significant Rain To California

An atmospheric river storm is expected to bring plenty of rain to communities across California this week. Atmospheric rivers are a normal winter weather pattern for California, which relies on them to replenish its water supply. Strong or extreme atmospheric rivers can trigger heavy rainfall and major flooding.

“So the first system looks more significant in Southern California in the next few days. It’s the second system that looks more significant in Northern California,” said climate scientist Daniel Swain. “It might not make it quite so far south. But the end result is that it looks like a relatively wet period within the next week especially for Northern and Southern California.”

The storm could bring dangerous conditions, including flooded roadways and the possibility of debris flow in areas affected by wildfires.

Newsom Brings CA To The Heart Of The Amazon — And The U.N. Climate Conference

California likes to think of itself as a nation — and this week, it’s acting like one. Governor Gavin Newsom, top state officials and legislators are leading a delegation to the United Nations’ 30th Conference of Parties this week in Belém, a gateway to Brazil’s Amazon region.

Lauren Sanchez is chair of the California Air Resources Board, the state’s agency tasked with maintaining clean air. “The United States and large economies like California are still committed to climate action, believe in climate science, and are going to continue partnering with people all around the world to make sure that we can advance climate solutions together,” she said.

But states, cities, and tribal nations don’t have an official seat at the international bargaining stage. That’s reserved for nation states that will be hammering out goals around reducing emissions and more. The impacts of these agreements are both symbolic and substantive, says Wade Crowfoot. He heads California’s Natural Resources Agency. “In each instance, the policy and program staff of the different jurisdictions spends months, sometimes a couple of years, really identifying capacities or technologies or expertise that that one government has that the other government might be interested in,” Crowfoot said.

California partnered with Brazil in September to help it set up a carbon market similar to the Golden State’s. Another deal, signed earlier this year, will bring Danish flood management expertise to California’s delta region. But experts said these agreements are not the same as having a nation’s support.

Gavin Newsom’s Former Chief Of Staff Indicted On Public Corruption Charges

Governor Gavin Newsom’s former chief of staff, Dana Williamson, and four co-conspirators were indicted Wednesday on 23 counts of bank and wire fraud, allegedly committed from 2022 to 2024, during her time working for the governor.

The indictment, first reported by the Sacramento Bee, alleges that Williamson, a longtime Democratic strategist, worked with Greg Campbell, a prominent Sacramento lobbyist, and Sean McCluskie, the former chief of staff to former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, as well as two other unnamed co-conspirators to steal $225,000 from an unnamed former official’s dormant campaign account for McCluskie’s personal use. “Collectively, they funneled the money through various business entities and disguised it as pay for what was, in reality, a no-show job,” FBI Sacramento Special Agent in Charge Sid Patel said in a news release.

Prosecutors allege that Williamson and one of the unnamed co-conspirators, described only as a former California public official who owned a political consulting firm, used their political strategy firms to funnel money out of a campaign account, believed to be Becerra’s, into an account controlled by McCluskie. They allegedly disguised the funds as payments for McCluskie’s spouse, who was described in the indictment as a stay-at-home parent. Williamson is also accused of falsely claiming more than $1.7 million in business expenses on her taxes. She used the funds to purchase a $15,000 Chanel handbag and earrings, a chartered jet trip and a nearly $170,000 birthday trip to Mexico, the indictment alleges. She is also accused of conspiring to retroactively create fake contracts to justify federal loans made to her company, Grace Public Affairs.