Atmospheric Rivers Are Continuing to Soak the West, Bringing More Flooding, Heavy Snow and Damaging Winds
A parade of Pacific storms, accompanied by atmospheric rivers, will continue to march into the West Coast, bringing a threat of more rain to already flooded areas of western Washington, and an increasing flood threat to Oregon and Northern California into this weekend. On top of the flood threat, there will be damaging winds and heavy snow, which prompted blizzard warnings for parts of the Cascades and Olympics. The latest atmospheric river Monday dumped 2 to 5 inches of rain in the Cascades and Olympics of Washington state, with an additional 2 to 5 inches on Tuesday. These are the same areas which are still recovering from 10 to 18 inches of rain during last week's procession of atmospheric rivers.
Timing Through This Weekend
Unfortunately, there are more weather systems targeting the West into this weekend, and even beyond. Here is a rough daily timeline.
Wednesday: A strong, windy storm is lashing the Northwest and far Northern California with heavy rain and high winds. Winds could gust as high as 60 mph and an addition 1-3 inches of rain is possible. In the Washington Cascades and Olympics, this precipitation will be snow. Snow levels will dramatically drop by Wednesday evening, with several feet of snow possible.
Thursday: Another atmospheric river arrives. The heaviest rain will be focused on Oregon, but some rain and high-elevation snow will also fall in Washington into Idaho and western Montana. Mountain snow will continue to impact higher elevations, including the mountain passes.
Friday: The atmospheric river shifts into southern Oregon and Northern California. The main impacts will remain mainly north of the Bay Area. Showers and mountain snow may linger in Washington, northern Oregon and the northern Rockies.
Weekend: The main concern is for Northern California Sunday, though some locally heavy rain could also return to parts of Oregon. Showers in western Washington on Saturday could increase by Sunday.
We recognize the severe impact that current conditions are having on our customers, and we are committed to restoring service levels as quickly as possible. As a result of these weather issues, the ALG Client Service Team will send daily updates as we monitor the progress and track job level.