Rainstorms Hit the Pacific Northwest

This Sunday, an atmospheric river storm hit the Pacific Northwest according to the National Weather Service, bringing heavy rain and the possibility of the end of the wildfire season.

In the Seattle area, almost an inch of rain fell in 24 hours, days after the city asked 1.5 million residents to conserve water. More than 43% of Washington has been classfied as in “severe drought” or worse, while 27% of Oregon falls in this category. Near the Oregon-California border, flash flooding is possible, according to the Center for Western Water and Extremes; however, river flooding is not forecasted because of the extreme droughts.

Due to the rains, the wildfire season has likely been ended in much of the western parts of both Washington and Oregon. Without these rains, the wildfire season could have been one of the worst with several wildfires sparking in Spokane in August and the danger levels in parts of the North Cascades and Olympic mountain ranges reaching historic highs.

This pattern of increasing drought can be seen everywhere, even locally in Atlanta, with high rates of climate change bringing less rain and growing drought severity and length