Recently, the Pacific Northwest and Northern California faced a heavy storm resulting from this season’s first major atmospheric river from the Pacific Ocean. A low pressure system embedded in the flow of the atmospheric river underwent bombogenesis, becoming what is known as a bomb cyclone. Strong winds from the storm reached Washington last week and then moved to Northern California, where it caused hundreds of floods and brought snow to the Sierra Nevada and the Cascade mountain ranges. Wind speeds reached almost 100 mph. North of San Francisco, flooding is expected to continue throughout Napa Valley and its surrounding cities. More than 90,000 people in Washington were left without power, along with 17,000 more people in California. Washington’s demand for electricity has skyrocketed.

Many school districts have temporarily shut down because of the lack of electricity. However, large utility companies have been pushing back estimated restoration times. Hydroelectricity has faced difficulties with the warming atmosphere. Multiple landslides followed the storm, including one in Berkley. In the Feather River Canyon area northeast of Chico, large boulders blocked several highways after the rockslides. Washington’s Seattle area was most heavily effected, and falling trees jeopardized many lives. An Amtrak train collided with a fallen tree north of Seattle in Stanwood. Many reporters classified the storm as one of the worst Washington has experienced in decades.