A woman has been reported killed by a failing tree while tens of thousands of other homes were cut from the power supply on Tuesday as Northern California and the Pacific Northwest started feeling the effect of a powerful atmospheric river event. The effects were disclosed by the officials.
The forecasters have predicted that the storm in the area could bring the rains to a total of 15 inches and heavy snow in the mountains. It was disclosed by the forecast tracking website that around 7 p.m. local time, almost 100,000 homes and businesses were without power in Washington, as well as more than 14,000 in Oregon
South County Fire disclosed that in Lynnwood in Washington’s Snohomish County, a woman who was 50 years and above died when a tree crashed into the encampment at around 7 p.m.
The forecasters have noted that the whiteout blizzard could hit parts of the Cascade Mountains, which run along the spine of the West Coast. The storm could dump as much as 2 feet of snow in Mount Shasta City in Northern California. Because the city is along Interstate 5, that could foul traffic.
The weather service also its weather warning stated that the guest wind in the area could get up to 90mh n the summit of Mount Rainier, at an elevation of 14,411, in Washington state. Seattle–Tacoma International Airport recorded a gust of 52 mph Tuesday evening.
Connie Clarstrom a National Weather Service meteorologist in Medford, Oregon stated that the predictions had shown that they were experiencing a near hurricane wind which would come with a high level of force near the coast with hurricane-force wind gusts over the capes and headlands.
It was noted that the heavy wind has been driven by a so-called bomb cyclone, or bombogenesis, a phenomenon in which a storm system rapidly intensifies as air pressure drops. A storm qualifies as a bomb cyclone when pressure drops by 24 millibars in 24 hours.
Marty Ralph, the director of the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes. stated that the the predictions have shown that the situation will deepen, it was further explained that it will be more like 60 millibars in 24 hours, which is obscenely fast and very unusual. Marty also noted that the prediction is exceptionally intense.
It was also explained that when the bomb cyclone is experienced it will usher in a long plume of moisture from the tropical Pacific known as an atmospheric river.
According to research published in 2022, the atmospheric river can be the primary driver of the yearly perception for the West Coast, the study noted that it usually costs more than $1.1 billion in yearly flood damage on average. The research also shows that about 84% of the floods experienced in the western states were associated with a
Scientists have stated that climate change is currently influencing the atmospheric rivers. It was noted that a warmer atmosphere could absorb more water vapour which will give the storm the capacity to deliver a more intense downpour.
Raph stated that the warmer the air is the more water vapour it can hold which gives it more potential in energy.
Over three weeks from late 2022 into early 2023, California was battered by nine atmospheric river storms, which caused widespread flooding, landslides, downed trees and wind damage. Moody’s RMS estimated total U.S. economic losses to be $5 billion to $7 billion from that sequence of storms.
It was explained that it has been seen that Northern California was on top of the list to receive the majority of the storm moisture.
Ralph further noted that the main characteristic was a string stalling. He also stated that those two things combined can produce 10 to 20 inches of rain over three days
Alerts have been issued for potential flood incidents in the northern and central Sacramento Valley, Shasta County and western Colusa County from Tuesday morning through Saturday.
Ralph also noted that with the prediction it has been seen that the Russian river has been predicted to receive about 10 inches of rainfall. According to Ralph, about 20% of the annual rainfall would be received by the river in just two or three days of the rains. It was also noted that it has been predicted that some minor rains would be experienced along the river.
According to the National Water Prediction Service some other rivers in Northern California, including the Eel River, could see minor and moderate flooding
Ralph noted that the biggest predictions have indicated that the biggest rivers will be low to flooding as it was still early in the season and the landscape is relatively dry. He noted that the situation has made the people to be more fortunate.
Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA, stated that there was a 10% to 20% chance that some areas north of Santa Rosa, California, and into southern Oregon would receive record three-day rainfall as a result of the storm.
Swain while speaking during the afternoon briefing on Tuesday noted that in some of the places, there will be more or less rain which will happen from Tuesday till Sunday. Swain noted that the predictions have shown a more extreme rain even that it will be a flood event.
It was noted that the data have shown that some atmospheric rivers can bring chaos in fall and winter, they’re important for boosting the water supplies in California and other western states. The storm will fill reservoirs and begin to replenish groundwater depleted during a hot summer.
Ralph noted that the incident was related to the story of California water and the West in general, feast and famine. Big storms come both as hazards and benefits
Ralph and other experimenters have built a 1-5 scale to rate atmospheric rivers striking the West Coast, based on their expected duration and the peak amount of water vapor they transport. In Northern California, the storm is expected to rate as an AR 4 in most locations.
