‘Bomb cyclone’ knocks out power and downs trees across northwest US, killing 1
SEATTLE– A massive storm hit the northwestern US on Tuesday evening, lashing the region with high winds and rain and causing widespread power outages and downing trees, killing at least one person.
The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks through Friday, and hurricane wind warnings were in effect as the strongest atmospheric river – a large plume of moisture – that California and the Pacific Northwest have seen this season is overwhelming the region. The storm system is considered a “ bomb cyclone”, which occurs when a cyclone rapidly intensifies.
Fallen trees hit homes and littered roads in northwest Washington. In Lynnwood, Washington, a woman died Tuesday evening when a large tree fell on a homeless encampment, South County Fire said in a statement about Seattle. reported. The agency later said the individual was in stable condition.
“Trees are falling all over the city & falling on houses,” the fire department in Bellevue, about 10 miles east of Seattle, posted on social platform X. “If you can, get to the lowest floor and stay away from windows. Don’t go outside if you can avoid it.”
Late Tuesday it was reported that at least 450,000 homes were without power poweroutage.us. But the number of outage reports fluctuated wildly throughout the evening, likely in part because various weather and utility companies struggled to report information about the storm due to internet outages and other technical issues. It was not clear whether that figure was correct. More than 15,000 people had lost power in Oregon and nearly 19,000 in California.
As of 8 p.m., peak wind speeds were in Canadian waters, where gusts of 101 mph (163 kph) were reported off the coast of Vancouver Island, according to the National Weather Service in Seattle. Along the Oregon coast there were wind gusts as high as 79 mph (127 km per hour) Tuesday evening, according to the National Weather Service in Medford, Oregon, while a wind speed of 77 mph (124 km per hour) was recorded on Mount Rainier in Washington .
Winds were expected to increase in western Washington during the evening, the weather service said.
The National Weather Service warned people on the West Coast about the danger of trees during high winds, posting on X: “Stay safe by avoiding outdoor rooms and windows and by using caution while driving.”
Flood and high wind warnings were in effect in Northern California, with up to 8 inches of rain forecast for parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, North Coast and Sacramento Valley. Dangerous flash flooding, rockslides and debris flows were expected, according to the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center.
A winter storm watch was issued for the northern Sierra Nevada above 3,500 feet (1,066 meters), where 28 inches of snow was possible over two days. Wind gusts could reach up to 120 kilometers per hour in mountain areas, forecasters say.
The National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for parts of southwestern Oregon through Friday evening, while rough winds and seas shut down a ferry route in northwest Washington between Port Townsend and Coupeville.
According to the weather service in Seattle, a blizzard warning was issued as of Tuesday afternoon for most of Washington’s Cascades, including Mount Rainier National Park, with up to a foot of snow and wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour. . Traveling over passes can be difficult, if not impossible.