A ‘once in a decade’ bomb cyclone has unleashed itself on several West Coast states, leaving hundreds of thousands of Americans without power and one dead.
This powerful storm rapidly intensified Tuesday as it moved toward Washington, Oregon and northern California, simultaneously fueling a Category 5 atmospheric river and directing it towards land.
A live tracker revealed the bomb cyclone’s deadly location sat just 300 miles off the coast of Washington at 9am ET and was slowly inching closer toward the shoreline.
While Meteorologists are expecting the eye of the storm to remain over the ocean, major hurricane-force conditions, including wind gusts between 72 and 77 mph, will continue to batter the states this week.
The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Portland said: ‘Extremely strong winds and very steep and mountainous seas will likely capsize or damage vessels. Near zero visibility is expected. Bars will become impassable.
‘Mariners should remain in port, alter course, and/or secure the vessel for extreme winds and very steep seas.’
As of 8:50am ET, roughly 560,000 customers were without power in Washington, in addition to 16,500 in California, 15,000 in Nevada and 3,000 in Oregon.
Meteorologists called this the first major storm of the winter season, and its impact will be felt through the weekend even as the bomb cyclone and atmospheric river stall along the coast as the week progresses.
A ‘once in a decade’ bomb cyclone has unleashed itself on western states, and has already left hundreds of thousands of Americans without power and one dead
As of 8pm ET Tuesday, the peak wind speed was in Canadian waters, where gusts of 101 mph were reported off the coast of Vancouver Island, according to the NWS in Seattle.
The atmospheric river made landfall in northern California Tuesday night, and is expected to drop 10 to 20 inches of rain in California’s northern Coast Ranges and very heavy snow in the Klamath Mountains.
Peak impacts from the atmospheric river will hammer northern California through Friday, potentially triggering deadly flash floods, mudslides and rockslides.
But the system is expected to weaken as it moves over the Cascades and through to northern California and southwest Oregon by Friday.
‘It’s severe out there. Trees are coming down all over the city, with multiple falling onto homes,’ the fire department in Bellevue, east of Seattle, posted in a Severe Weather Safety alert on Facebook.
‘If you are able, head to the lowest floor you can and stay away from windows. Do not go outside if you can avoid it.’
This record-breaking storm has already claimed one life. A woman in her 50s from Lynnwood, Washington died Tuesday night when a large tree fell on a homeless encampment, according to South County Fire Department.
Meanwhile in Seattle, a tree struck a vehicle, temporarily trapping the driver inside, according to the Seattle Fire Department. The individual is reportedly in a stable condition.
An Amtrak train also collided with a fallen tree near an intersection in Stanwood, north of Seattle on Tuesday night, according to CNN affiliate KIRO.
None of the 47 passengers on board were injured, but the crash left the train inoperable.
The bomb cyclone is fueling and directing an atmospheric river toward land, which will drop significant precipitation over western states, especially northern California
Storm surge crash against the rocky shoreline of southwestern Oregon as a bomb cyclone barrels toward the West Coast on November 19
The storm is considered a ‘bomb’ cyclone because it lost more than 24 millibars of central pressure over a 24-hour period. This level of strengthening is known as ‘bombogenesis.’
Storm intensity is measured by central pressure – the lower the pressure, the stronger the impact.
On Tuesday evening, a buoy off the coast of Washington located near the storm’s center recorded an air pressure of 950 millibars with wind gusts of 74 mph, Washington Post meteorologist Ben Noll reported.
A sea-level pressure less than 980 millibars represents a pretty strong low, according to the Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.
The bomb cyclone is combining forces with an atmospheric river – a long and narrow region of the atmosphere that carries warmth and moisture from the tropics toward the Earth’s poles.
Seattle Fire Department personnel direct traffic off of NE 80th St. after power lines fell across the street during the major storm
A person records damage of a tree and downed power lines
In this image provided by Eastside Fire & Rescue, officials survey the scene where a tree fell on a home in Issaquah, Wash., Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024
The cyclone will fuel and direct a Category 5 atmospheric river toward northern California. This river is a category A Category 5 is exceptionally hazardous, bringing intense storm impacts to land.
This will significantly amplify the amount of precipitation dropped over the region, especially in California.
AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Heather Zehr said: ‘Soaking rain from the storm will reach the San Francisco Bay area but not until later in the week.’
‘The heaviest rain will fall near and north of the North Bay and up along the coast of Northern California while San Francisco and the South Bay will be in the zone where rainfall will diminish quickly from north to south.’
This area could see up to 20 inches of total rainfall, meteorologists predict.
The Category 5 atmospheric river will significantly amplify the amount of precipitation dropped over the region, especially in California
Flash floods, mudslides and rockslides could result, especially in areas impacted by burn scars, or charred, barren patches of land left behind by wildfire.
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That is because burned soil can be as water-repellant as pavement, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and wildfire destroys vegetation that stabilizes soils.
The National Weather Service has also issued a flood watch for parts of southwestern Oregon through Friday evening, while rough winds and seas halted a ferry route in northwestern Washington between Port Townsend and Coupeville.
A blizzard warning was issued for the majority of the Cascades in Washington, including Mount Rainier National Park, starting Tuesday afternoon, with up to a foot of snow and wind gusts up to 60 mph, according to the weather service in Seattle.
While California, Oregon and Washington will continue to see the brunt of the impacts, storm conditions are already stretching beyond their borders, with heavy snowfall extending into Idaho, Montana, Alberta and Saskatchewan.