Northern California battered by rain and snow in the latest wave of damaging weather to hit the West Coast

The recent wave of inclement weather in Northern California, characterized by intense rain and snowfall, has wreaked havoc across the region. A powerful atmospheric river storm, compounded by a bomb cyclone, delivered unprecedented rainfall—forecasts indicated up to 16 inches in some areas—resulting in flash floods, rockslides, and widespread power outages affecting nearly 21,000 residents . The National Weather Service issued multiple flood watches and warned of the potential for mudslides and road closures as conditions deteriorated rapidly.

Now a new threat from the storm has arrived Wednesday as the bomb cyclone’s winds wind down: It’s combining with an atmospheric river to unleash life-threatening flooding rainfall over parts of the West Coast that will continue for the rest of the week.

More than 290,000 homes and businesses were without power Wednesday afternoon in Washington after hurricane-force winds bludgeoned the state’s energy infrastructure Tuesday, according to PowerOutage.us. More than 70,000 customers were without power in British Columbia, BC Hydro reported on its website.

The National Weather Service in the Bay Area warned people that the atmospheric river was focused on the North Bay and to “expect heavy rain to continue tonight, Thursday into Friday. This will result in mudslides, road closures.”

The storm system, which first hit Tuesday, is considered a “ bomb cyclone,” which occurs when a cyclone intensifies rapidly.

A winter storm watch was in place for the northern Sierra Nevada above 3,500 feet (1,066 meters), where 15 inches (38 centimeters) of snow was possible over two days. Wind gusts could top 75 mph (121 kph) in mountain areas, forecasters said.

I​ts estimated pressure dropped as low as 942 millibars, according to the 10 p.m. EST Tuesday analysis from NOAA's Weather Prediction Center. That's on par with an October 2021 storm (942.5 millibars) for the lowest pressure in about 50 years of records for that part of the northeast Pacific region. Since these are estimates, there is some uncertainty in the exact pressures.

In addition to flooding concerns, the storm produced extreme winds with gusts exceeding 90 mph in coastal areas . This led to significant disruptions in transportation; major highways were closed due to landslides and flooding. Furthermore, over 376,000 people experienced power outages across the Pacific Northwest as trees fell under the wind's force . The cumulative effects of this severe weather highlight the increasing vulnerability of Northern California’s infrastructure to climate-related events.

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Sarah H

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