Pacific Northwest Gets Brief Break Before Storms Return Thursday

Rain will ease Wednesday across the Pacific Northwest after floods and winds left at least 600,000 without power, forced hundreds of people in Washington to flee their homes and killed at least one person.

The respite is expected to be brief, with another powerful storm forecast to arrive Thursday, focusing mainly on Oregon.

While the heaviest rain has stopped, showers will linger throughout the area and the threat remains high, said Allison Santorelli, a forecaster with the U.S. Weather Prediction Center. “In Washington, any amount of rain is impactful” right now, she said.

Known as atmospheric rivers — long plumes of Pacific moisture — the next storm will track slightly south of hard-hit Washington, where more than 1,200 people have been rescued from floods, and instead center on Oregon and Northern California.

“Things are going to pick up again tomorrow,” Santorelli said. While the highest peaks may get snow, rain is forecast across many mountain areas as well, raising the risk of flash flooding, she said.

The Pacific Northwest has been battered by powerful storms for the past two weeks, prompting Washington Governor Bob Ferguson to pledge $3.5 million in short-term relief, with King County officials adding another $1.5 million for residents hit by flooding. Across Oregon and Washington, about 602,000 customers were without power early Wednesday, according to PowerOutage.us.

At least 49 miles of Highway 2 through Stevens Pass in Washington have been closed and may remain shut for months.

Santorelli said there’s no long-term relief in sight for the West Coast. After Thursday’s storm moves through, another series of atmospheric rivers is expected next week, aimed mainly at Northern California.

Top photo: A flooded neighborhood in Pacific, Washington. Photographer: Brandon Bell/Getty Images. Bloomberg.