A "bomb cyclone," the meteorologic term for a rapidly intensifying low pressure system, is off the coast of British Columbia this morning, directing its counterclockwise winds across Northern California, Oregon and Washington. Pulling in an "atmospheric river" of moisture from the Pacific, the storm is expected to stay offshore for the next few days, producing strong winds, flooding rains and deep mountain snow across the region.
Much like a tropical storm, its damage will relate to both its strength and its duration and, at this point, the jet stream will keep it in place. While dousing wildfires throughout the Pacific Northwest, the storm will surely unleash river flooding, landslides, avalanches and widespread power outages.
Global warming is not just a threat to southern latitudes. The warmer seas and energized atmosphere will fuel destructive storms in northern regions as well. This bomb cyclone is just the latest evidence of that fact.
