Bomb cyclones bring deadly high winds to Pacific Northwest
At least two people are dead and hundreds of thousands were without power as a second powerful bomb cyclone hits the Pacific Northwest and northern California.
A bomb cyclone hit Bellevue, Washington, on Nov. 19, 2024, causing high winds, downed trees and power outages in western Washington and Canada. Two people died in the storm.
At least two people have died and hundreds of thousands are without power as a second powerful bomb cyclone approaches the Pacific Northwest and Northern California, causing high winds, heavy rain and snow.
The first storm packing inches of rain, feet of snow and damaging winds already clobbered areas from Oregon to Northern California and Washington as the second atmospheric river and bomb cyclone take aim.
A Pacific Gas & Electric worker saws a tree that toppled into power lines during heavy rains on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in the Occidental community of unincorporated Sonoma County, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
The two deaths happened in the Seattle, Washington region after trees fell on them in separate incidents on Tuesday, police say. One woman was killed while showering at home, and another was killed in a homeless encampment.
The next storm, approaching Friday, will not be as intense as Tuesday's powerhouse storm. The storm will make more of a glancing blow from south to north just off the coasts of Northern California, Oregon and Washington, but it will still be close enough and strong enough to bring impacts from wind, rain and snow.
A satellite image loop shows the bomb cyclone approaching British Columbia and Washington state on November 19, 2024. (NOAA/CIRA)
Winds gusted as high as 85 mph in Oregon and 101 mph were reported off the coast of Vancouver Island Tuesday. The storm dropped to a pressure of 27.82 inches of mercury (942 mb), likely the strongest storm ever measured off the coast of Washington State. Over a foot of snow fell at several locations in Washington, with 15 inches reported at Malott.
More than a foot of rain fell in northern California, with gauges at Venado and Austin Creek, both west of Sacramento, reporting 12.29 inches and 11.66 inches respectively Thursday morning.
As the second cyclone approached Friday, the rain total at Venado rose to 17.40 inches, with 15.88 inches at Austin Creek. Winds gusted as high as 98 mph at Mattole Road, California and 20 inches of snow was reported at Soda Springs.
Fire officials in Puget Sound, located on the northwestern coast of Washington, said in a statement Tuesday that two people were injured when a tree fell on a trailer in Maple Valley. Both victims had been inside the trailer. One was quickly rescued, fire officials said, while the other took about an hour to extricate.
"Stay safe by avoiding exterior rooms and windows and by using caution when driving. Prevent damage to your property by trimming loose branches and parking away from trees," it said on X.
The Fire Department in Bellevue, located east of Seattle, warned of trees "coming down all over the city, with multiple falling onto homes."
Officials said two people were hospitalized Tuesday after a tree fell on their trailer. (Photo credit: Puget Sound Fire/X)
"If you are able, head to the lowest floor you can and stay away from windows. Do not go outside if you can avoid it," it said on Facebook.
As of Thursday morning, more than 300,000 customers in Washington, and 11,000 in California were without power, according to poweroutage.us. By Friday, that number had fallen to under 200,000.
At the peak of the storm, as many as 600,000 customers were in the dark in Washington, while 300,000 B.C. Hydro customers were without power, around half of those on Vancouver Island. By Wednesday, power had been restored to the majority of people, but about 50,000 customers on Vancouver Island remained without electricity, according to CBC.
Report a Typo
