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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Gabrielle Canon

A bomb cyclone looms over California and Pacific north-west – but what is it?

Aerial view of a house by itself surrounded by brown water.
A home submerged in floodwater as the Salinas River begins to overflow its banks in Salinas, California. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A set of powerful storms that could rank among the strongest in decades will slam British Columbia, the pacific north-west, and northern California this week, with torrents of rain, inches of snow in high altitudes and damaging winds. The region is bracing for widespread power outages and flash flooding, with extreme rainfall that could linger until the weekend.

After a relatively mild autumn, these rains are part of a familiar pattern caused by atmospheric rivers – strong storm systems that can bring both relief and ruin.

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