An Atmospheric River hits the Pacific Northwest

[countryjake]

Pacific Northwest Storm Parade to Bring More Rain, Wind and Mountain Snow Through the Weekend ~ December 9, 2015

http://www.wunderground.com/news/ice-wind-snow-rain-northwest-dec-2015

A parade of Pacific storms that began last week will continue to impact the Northwest into the coming weekend, though their nature will be changing from those producing flooding rain, to those with lower snow levels more typical of mid-December.

According to the National Weather Service, about 10 locations in southwest Washington and northwest Oregon have reported a foot or more of total rainfall in the three days ending 5 a.m. PST Wednesday. The top rainfall total so far is 18 inches at Lee's Camp in Oregon's northwest coastal range. Parts of coastal northwest Washington have seen 4 to 10 inches, while interior locations have seen 2 to 5 inches since this past weekend.

Rivers have topped flood stage at over two dozen river gauges in western Washington and northwest Oregon. Stretches of the Snoqalmie, Snohomish, Cowlitz and Chehalis Rivers, among others, are either forecast, or have already pushed into major flood stage Wednesday, but will fall by later Wednesday or Thursday.

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. There goes the drought.

But here comes the flooding, esp. after all those forest fires screwed up water retention ability of the forests.
Landslides and flooding usually follow the big fires.

[countryjake]

2. Yup, it's a mess up here this week, but the drought has been "eased", they say.

NW storms ease drought worries; mudslide risks remain ~ Dec 11, 2015

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/NW-storms-ease-drought-worries-mudslide-risks-remain-361590801.html

SEATTLE (AP) - Fierce storms in the Pacific Northwest sent rivers bursting from their banks, spilled boulders and trees into a major highway and spawned a rare tornado that snapped power poles and battered homes. They've also had one positive effect - easing drought concerns after an unusually dry summer.

The big storms that killed at least two people in Oregon this week shifted into California, where snow coated the slopes of the Sierra Nevada. But forecasters said mudslide danger on saturated hills in the Northwest would remain high through the weekend.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said the federal government is making $1 million available to Oregon to help repair roads and bridges damaged by the torrential rains that flooded the state this week.

The Federal Highway Administration on Friday said it's also giving $1 million in emergency relief funds to Washington state, where flooding, landslides and erosion closed many roads.

There was even a friggin' tornado down in Battleground!

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. Yeah, i saw a couple vids of that lil F-1.

I did not realize until I moved down here to hurricane land that those fierce winter storms we had up there were actually stronger than a hurricane, they just did not go in circles.

very happy to see rain and snow return to Puget Sound.

btw...we set a heat record here yesterday, and today is supposed to be the same...77 degrees.