4 days Ago By Nelson Espinal
A satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has captured a bomb cyclone hovering over California's coast, revealing the dramatic swirling clouds that have resulted in winter storm conditions and triggered a dozen rockslides in the past day. The vast scale of the storm system has brought about winter storms in six states, disrupting travel this week. This week's bomb cyclone particularly hard hit Washington state, with hundreds of thousands left without power and two fatalities reported.
A bomb cyclone storm can cause thousands to lose power. Valentine's Day misery as East Coast preps for Nor'easter bringing bomb cyclone California storms flatten homes as millions on alert amid 'bomb cyclone' The extreme intensity of this storm also attracted a second storm, which hit California hard, driving an atmospheric river inland and soaking Northern California with heavy rains that led to rock and mudslides. An animated view of the winter storm shows its 'classic cyclonic motion,' spinning counterclockwise as a jet of moisture sweeps over the West Coast.
From a space perspective, the storm covers a large portion of the Northern Pacific, underscoring its size. The previous two winters have seen unusually wet conditions in California , with multiple bomb cyclones and atmospheric rivers - although not typically simultaneously. Heavy snowfall began in California 's mountainous region on Nov.
19, 2024, while the coasts of Oregon and Northern California have been subjected to periods of rain. These storms will continue for several days, impacting the entire West Coast. Northern California has been hit with about a dozen minor landslides in the past day, including one on Highway 281 Wednesday morning that led to a car accident.
Flight Aware reports massive delays and cancellations at San Francisco International Airport, with hundreds of flights affected. The National Weather Service in the Bay Area issued a stark winter warning today, cautioning residents to "expect heavy rain to continue tonight, Thursday into Friday. This will result in mudslides, road closures.
" Despite the bomb cyclone's intensity powering this weather system, its effects have been somewhat lessened due to its position away from the shore. Nonetheless, wave data from Tuesday indicated "swells exceeding 20 feet off the coast of Northern California , driven by winds over 40 knots." A high surf advisory remains in place from Wednesday morning through Friday morning, with forecasters at the Weather Service expecting waves of 14 to 22 feet to crash ashore.
The NWS also announced the season's first winter weather advisory for Donner Pass on Interstate 80 and another for Echo Summit, effective until 5 p.m. Thursday.
These mountainous regions, home to popular ski destinations, are bracing for up to six inches of snow, with specific peaks anticipating even heavier snowfall. The state's Department of Transportation has reported that due to the snowstorm in northern California , traffic on northbound Interstate 5 has been restricted to just 50 vehicles per hour from 10 miles north of Redding to 21 miles south of Yreka. 'Bomb cyclone' knocks out power to over 600,000 in northwest Bomb cyclone to unleash eight trillion gallons of rainfall on California California storms chaos as 'bomb cyclone' hits and 40m warned to 'protect life' A winter storm watch has been issued for the northern Sierra Nevada above 3,500 feet (1,066 meters), where forecasters predict up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) of snow could accumulate over two days.
Mountain areas could experience wind gusts exceeding 75 mph (121 kph). By Wednesday evening, the storm had already deposited more than a foot of snow along the Cascades, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasters have warned of blizzard and whiteout conditions, making pass-level travel nearly impossible.
As the US braces for a freezing forecast, states set for a dangerously cold winter have been mapped out. The most significant impacts were expected in the North Bay and northeastern parts of the state. On Wednesday, the National Weather Service issued a flood advisory for northern and central Sonoma County, including the Sonoma coastal ranges, the 101 corridor encompassing Santa Rosa city, and the Mayacamas.
Initially, the advisory was limited to areas near Cazadero and Guerneville in central Sonoma County until 1:30 p.m. Still, just before 7 p.
m., the NWS extended the advisory from Cloverdale to below Santa Rosa until 10 p.m.
.
