At least one person has died and hundreds of thousands have been left without power after a “bomb cyclone” slammed into Seattle, Washington, on Tuesday evening, before it continues to chart a destructive path towards California and Oregon.
The extreme weather event killed at least one person, downed trees and power lines, and left hundreds of thousands without power in hard-hit Washington state overnight Tuesday.
In Lynnwood, a woman in her 50s was killed when a large tree fell on a homeless encampment, South County Fire said. As of Wednesday morning, almost 600,000 homeowners and businesses in the state were without power, with King, Snohomish and Kitsap counties the worst impacted areas.
Heavy rains and strengthening winds also battered the Bay Area overnight, with the winter storm anticipated to reach maximum intensity on Wednesday, the Weather Prediction Center announced in its latest update.
The North Bay will face the heaviest downpours, with lighter showers to the south.
Bruising winds with speeds surpassing 60mph are expected throughout the region on Wednesday morning with high surf likely along the Pacific Northwest coastline throughout the day.
Heavy rains and an atmospheric river – a large, narrow band of moisture – will continue to hit northern California and southwest Oregon through to Friday, dousing the area with up to 16 inches of rain.
The WPC has also warned of life-threatening flash flooding and rock slides through the Golden State, with rainfall expected to peak on Thursday and more than a month’s worth of precipitation forecast to fall heading into the weekend.
The Cascades and the northmost parts of California will see heavy snowfall which, combined with 65mph-plus winds, could result in blizzard conditions, forecasters warn. Snow levels are expected to rapidly rise into Wednesday night.
Friday is anticipated to bring the heaviest rainfall for areas south of San Francisco.
The storm system is then expected to weaken as it continues to chart a path over the Cascades and through to northern California and southwest Oregon by Friday.
The “anomalously strong” storm system was considered a “bomb cyclone,” which occurs when a cyclone intensifies rapidly.
