Atmospheric River Set to Flood Pacific Northwest Through Friday

A massive Pacific storm called an atmospheric river will sweep off the ocean into the Pacific Northwest starting Monday, bringing heavy rain and a week of floods, swollen rivers and even heavy snow across the region, including Seattle and Portland.

As much as 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain may fall through the end of the week, with some areas in the Cascade Mountains getting up to 18 inches, which will lead to many areas that usually don’t flood to be inundated, said Andrew Orrison, a forecaster at the US Weather Prediction Center. Flood warnings and watches are posted throughout ...