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A likely " bomb cyclone " lead toward California and Oregon will bring in high spirits winds and heavy rains to the West Coast Tuesday ( Nov. 19 ) through Thursday ( Nov. 21 ) .

harmonise toWeatherNation , the storm organisation is betoken to go through a rapid pressure free fall from over 1,000 millibar of force per unit area on Monday ( Nov. 18 ) night to less than 950 mb on Tuesday dark .

map showing bomb cyclone heading to US West Coast

NOAA satellite image showing mid-level water vapor on Nov. 18.

A fall of more than 24 mb in 24 hours at these latitudes is known as " bombogenesis , " transforming a storm into a so - call bomb cyclone , agree to theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA ) .

Bomb cyclones happen when ardent and stale air peck clash . They undergo rapid intensification as their pressure drops . The low - pressure zone is expect to bring anatmospheric riverto Northern California and southern Oregon , pull up wet from the tropic northward .

The heaviest impacts , class by the University of California , San Diego as " extreme , " will be between the San Francisco Bay region and Eureka , California , concord to WeatherNation . unattackable encroachment from the storm are await as far northward as primal Oregon and as far in the south as Salinas , California . These include high wind , large rain , and the potential for newsbreak flooding .

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A photograph of rain falling on a road.

blow of wind may attain 70 miles per hour ( 113 km / 60 minutes ) in expose expanse , and rain could fall at a rate of 2 to 4 inch a day ( 5 to 10 centimeters ) , according toFox Weather . Mountains of over 3,500 metrical unit ( 1,067 meters ) pinnacle could get up to 2 feet ( 0.6 m ) of snow .

Atmospheric rivers threaten both property and life , but they also bring much - needed pee to the West Coast . According toNOAA , 30 % to 50 % of annual precipitation in West Coast states come via a handful of atmospheric river event each year .

Under climate change , atmospheric river patterns are expected to switch , bringing heavy low - elevation hurriedness outcome but less snow to higher height , harmonize to a2021 NOAA discipline . This is problematic for water supplies in the West , because snowpack tender a tardily - thawing , twelvemonth - circle generator of piddle , while short - terminal figure heavy rainfall take more immediate damaging impingement , such as mudslides and floods , and is n’t as easy stored for later employment .

A pedestrial runs down a sidewalk in New York City during a bout of torrential rain.

A GOES-East satellite image of the continental U.S. taken during the winter storm on Feb. 19.

A photograph of two people using a canoe in the flooded main street of Beattyville, Kentucky.

A photograph of waves lapping at the shoreline of Marshall�s Beach in San Francisco with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

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Two reconstructions showing the location of the north polar vortex over the Arctic on March 1, 2025 and over Northern Europe on March 20, 2025.

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Tunnel view of Yosemite National Park.