Snow seattle 2011

The Seattle metro area has been under winter weather advisories until late Monday as they may pick up several inches of snow. The heavy, wet snow in the Seattle area was causing numerous problems, including school closures, as power lines and trees came down, according to Q13FOX.

Some 12, customers were without power in the Seattle region due to the heavy snow, while around 3, additional customers were without lights in western Washington into parts of Idaho. A mile stretch of U. Highway 2 was also closed at Stevens Pass due to downed limbs and power lines.

The Portland metro area was also bracing for a possible round of snow in the coming days that will be coupled with below-freezing temperatures. The record-setting snowfall — the previous record of 1. Routine commutes turned into three-, four- and five-hour ordeals, according to The Seattle Times , as cars and semi trucks spun out of control and buses jackknifed cutting off major roadways.

At least three deaths have been blamed on road accidents. One man was killed outside his car on Interstate 5 when he was either putting chains on his car or trying to push it. Incoming flights at Sea-Tac Airport were delayed by as many as four hours, after a cargo plane skidded off an icy runway.

Most damage from tropical storms comes from heavy rainfall which can destroy buildings and cause severe flooding. Landslides can also occur, blocking roads and railways and causing evacuation problems for the emergency services. Henri, which was downgraded from a hurricane, brought several inches of rainfall in the Northeast, along with up to 70 mph wind gusts. Sacramento measured 5. Meanwhile, Sacramento Executive Airport measured 5. The bomb cyclone system on the West Coast broke some all-time hour precipitation records, according to AccuWeather.

Off the coast, the strong winds are wreaking havoc for ships trying to navigate the rough seas. The U. Coast Guard said a shipping vessel, on its way to Canada, lost about 40 cargo containers which are now floating in the ocean. Meteorologists said the storm was hundreds of miles off the west coast, so the result is widespread rain and breezy conditions Saturday, October 23, It all changed Sunday, October 24 when the strongest weather system moved in.

People experienced thunderstorms, damaging winds, flooding, high surf and snow in the mountain regions. Mesmerizing imagery from space today of the amazing bomb cyclone and Category 5 atmospheric river slamming into the West Coast.

But there is now little doubt that an extraordinary event is in store, as unusual as the June heatwave. And a front is about to make landfall on our coast, resulting in substantial precipitation over land. After facing severe drought in the summer months, the west coast was slammed by a bomb cyclone, causing severe floods and dangerous winds. Emergency officials are now dealing with the aftermath of the cyclone bomb that rocked the west coast this weekend.

Bomb cyclone. Rivers of rain. Emergency response officials have been bracing all week for the worst days of the storm — and it finally arrived late Saturday evening.