Rain pelts Pacific Northwest — and may end wildfire season
An atmospheric river storm barreled into the Pacific Northwest on Sunday, bringing several days of heavy rain, most likely ending the wildfire season in many areas and offering a bit of a reprieve for a region suffering from extreme drought.
An atmospheric river storm barreled into the Pacific Northwest on Sunday, bringing several days of heavy rain, most likely ending the wildfire season in many areas and offering a bit of a reprieve for a region suffering from extreme drought.
In the Seattle area, nearly an inch of rain fell in 24 hours, said Dev McMillian, a National Weather Service meteorologist. The rain comes just days after the city’s utility asked 1.5 million customers to conserve water as its supply dwindled because of a regionwide drought.
Flash flooding is possible near the Oregon-California border, according to a forecast from the Center for Western Water and Extremes at the Scripps Institute for Oceanography. Because the drought in the Pacific Northwest is so severe, the center is not forecasting any river flooding.
More than 43% of Washington has been in “severe drought” or worse, according to the U.S. drought monitor. In Oregon, 27% of the state qualified for that category.
Several days of soaking rain should put the wildfire season to bed in the western parts of both states, said Matthew Dehr, a meteorologist for the Washington Department of Natural Resources’ fire management division.
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