Tag Archive for: Pacific Northwest

‘Bomb Cyclone’ Brings High Winds and Soaking Rain to Northern California and Pacific Northwest

/in , /by /AP Newsby Hallie Golden and Christopher Weber

What was expected to be one of the strongest storms in the northwest U.S. in decades arrived Tuesday evening, knocking out power and downing trees across the region.

The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks beginning Tuesday and lasting through Friday as the strongest atmospheric river — a large plume of moisture — that California and the Pacific Northwest has seen this season bears down on the region. The storm system is considered a “ bomb cyclone,” which occurs when a cyclone intensifies rapidly.

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California’s About to Get its First Big Atmospheric River of the Season. Here’s Where it’s Going

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Grace Toohey

The strongest atmospheric river to hit California in months is expected to dump rain and snow across the northern half of the state this week — also bringing high winds and possible flooding — before eventually making its way south, forecasters say.

“This is going to be the first major storm of the season,” said Dial Hoang, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Monterey. The low pressure system off the Pacific Northwest coast driving this storm will begin rapidly intensifying Tuesday — reaching the threshold of a bomb cyclone — which will drastically increase its moisture and strength.

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A Weak La Niña Could Bring Dry Conditions to Parts of Southwest this Winter, NOAA Says

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James and Grace Toohey

A weak La Niña is forecast to appear this winter and affect weather patterns across the country, likely bringing drier-than-average conditions in much of the Southwest and wetter-than-average conditions in the Pacific Northwest, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The outlook is uncertain, however, for much of California, where NOAA experts predict there are equal chances of below-average, average or above-average winter precipitation.

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Track the Latest Atmospheric Rivers to Hit California and the Pacific Northwest

/in , , /by /The New York Timesby William B. Davis, Madison Dong, Martín González Gómez, Judson Jones and Bea Malsky

A pair of atmospheric rivers is expected to hit the Western United States and Canada in the coming days.

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How Atmospheric Rivers Cause Flooding

/in , , /by /National Geographicby Alejandra Borunda

In the coming weeks, buckets of rain are likely to batter California. The culprit? Atmospheric rivers. The rains are born far away, deep in the tropical Pacific, where water evaporated from the warm ocean surface is absorbed into the atmosphere.

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How California Reservoir Water Levels Changed After Atmospheric Rivers

/in , , /by /Newsweekby Anna Skinner

One reservoir in northern California rose by 5 feet after two atmospheric rivers supplemented the water levels. An atmospheric river began across much of the Pacific Northwest, including Oregon and Northern California, on Friday.

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Parade of Cross-Country Storms to Hammer the West Coast Into Mid-January

/in , , /by /AccuWeatherby Bill Deger

The weather in the new year will kick off on an active note as a series of storms will travel from coast to coast, bringing heavy rain, snow and thunderstorms over the 10 days. The West will bear the brunt of each storm first, beginning with one arriving early this week, warn AccuWeather meteorologists.

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Northwest Drinking Water Concerns Could Get Worse as the Climate Changes

/in , , /by /Northwest News Networkby Courtney Flatt

Thunderstorms high in the Cascades recently stirred up a lot of dirt in a central Washington river, causing problems for people on its banks.

All the dirt in the Naches River was too much for the city of Yakima’s water treatment plant to handle. Cities and towns could see situations like this happen more often as the climate continues to change.

Climate change will cause more storm runoff, change when snowpack melts and lead to more severe wildfires and harmful algal blooms, said Amanda Hohner. She studies how post-wildfire runoff affects drinking water treatment plants.

“At least in the Western U.S., the effects of wildfire and also climate change are really starting to challenge drinking water treatment plants, resulting in different water quality than maybe those water treatment plants were designed for,” Hohner said.

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Storms to Deliver Rain, Mountain Snow Across Western US Through Christmas

/in , , /by /AccuWeatherby Ryan Adamson

Residents across the western United States who have drought relief on their holiday wish lists this season will be in luck over the next week. A series of storms will take aim at the West Coast and deliver needed rain and mountain snow from Southern California to the Pacific Northwest through Christmas Day.

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Series of Wintry Storms Take Aim at Northwest

/in , , /by /AccuWeatherby Jessica Storm

Another series of storms is set to sweep through the Pacific Northwest and Northern California into next week and not only bring much-needed rain and mountain snow but also flooding concerns.

A dip in the jet stream across the Bering Sea through the northern Pacific Ocean will push waves of energy toward the Canadian Rocky Mountains and Northwest this week, according to AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Senior Meteorologist Paul Pastelok, who added that temperatures will be near to below normal.

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