Atmospheric river dumping over 5 feet of snow on Olympic National Park

An atmospheric river dubbed the "Pineapple Express" has dumped 3-5 feet of snow and will double that this weekend.

Two weeks ago, the National Park Service webcam at Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park showed bare ground. Today, they are buried in snow.

The National Park Service webcam at Hurricane Ridge, Washington, on Dec. 8 and Dec. 20, 2019.

No one knows how much snow has actually fallen at Hurricane Ridge, which sits west of Seattle but east of Mt. Olympus. The NOHRSC map below shows around 3-4 feet in the last two weeks. The location averages about 400 inches of snow per season.

NOHRSC map showing snow cover on Dec. 8, and on Dec. 20, 2019.

The culprit? An atmospheric river dubbed the "Pineapple Express" which has been dumping snow on the Pacific Northwest for more than a week, and which won't stop until next week. This is what it looks like on satellite:

This storm isn't super-unusual for this time of year, but it is one of only two storms we're monitoring for Christmas week; the other is a nor'easter-like low pressure system that will bring flooding to the Southeast.