In a one-two punch, a second bomb cyclone storm is forecast to hit the western US coast as Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California are still dealing with power outages due to the current storm. Around 400,000 residents in the northwestern United States have lost power from heavy winds and rain, and the system is expected to delay utility companies from restoring things back to normal. This additional storm likely won’t help matters, either.
When is another bomb cyclone forecast to hit the West Coast?
The second bomb cyclone is projected to impact the western US states, notably Oregon and California, on late Thursday to Friday, which would be less than a day before the first storm is over.
This is according to AccuWeather, which says that the new bomb cyclone will impact the “coasts of Washington and northern Oregon” with wind and precipitation. Much like the current bomb cyclone, this storm will yet again be fueled by an atmospheric river that will direct additional water vapor across the Pacific toward the same areas.
Its weather forecast has the heaviest rain from this second storm fall “from Thursday night to Friday morning” and expects that “it may not completely stop raining” between the first storm and the second. The cumulative rainfall and snow totals (depending on the elevation) will generally range from 8 to 12 inches, with some areas possibly receiving 20 inches of precipitation.
While this second storm will likely not be as intense as the first, these collective rain totals create an elevated danger for flooding, as noted by CNN Weather. On Wednesday, the Weather Prediction Center has placed a level 3 of 4 risk of flooding for Northern California, but this will increase to a rare level 4 risk on Thursday.
The center also says that the area could record 16 inches of rain, which would be a month’s amount of rain for the northern San Francisco Bay area, in less than two days. This means that the rainfall from the second bomb cyclone could exacerbate the potential flood risk further.
