US north-west endures ‘bomb cyclone’ as east coast faces persistent wildfires | Extreme weather

Millions of people on both US coasts are enduring extreme weather conditions, with a lethal, once-a-decade bomb cyclone storm system descending on the north-west while east coast residents are experiencing persistent wildfires amid weeks of bone-dry drought conditions.

More than 650,000 people were waking up on Wednesday without power in Washington state, as a system of powerful storms descended on the pacific north-west and northern California. An estimated 100,000 people are without power in British Columbia as well as 24,000 in northern California.

At least two deaths have been reported. A woman was killed on Tuesday when a tree fell on a homeless encampment in Lynnwood, north of Seattle, local fire department officials said on social media. A second woman was killed near Seattle when a tree fell on her home, Bellevue fire officials said. Two people were injured when a tree fell on their trailer in Maple Valley, south-east of Seattle.

The storm is expected to range for days, unleashing snow, with blizzard and avalanche warnings in the mountains, and hurricane force winds over the region. The intensity of the storm, measured by its minimum central air pressure, was consistent with a category 4 hurricane, the Washington Post reported.

Conditions known as an atmospheric river are also expected to extend from Hawaii to California. Atmospheric Rivers are exactly what they sound like. These long streams of overhead moisture – or as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (Noaa) simply says, the “rivers in the sky” – have delivered both destructive and drought-reducing downpours with alarming intensity.

A low-pressure system, which has helped spur the storm and whip up winds, intensified so quickly that it is considered a “bomb cyclone”, explained Richard Bann, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service weather prediction center.

The fire department in Bellevue, Washington, urged people to stay inside on the lowest floor of their homes and away from windows. An Amtrak train was also involved in a collision outside of Seattle and CNN obtained videos of downed trees on power lines.

“Travel could be very difficult to impossible. Strong winds could cause extensive damage to trees and power lines,” the national weather service in Seattle posted in a warning.

The storm is expected to slowly travel south and stall over northern California in the next few days. On Friday, rainfall could reach up to 20in (508mm) in parts of south-western Oregon and northern California.

On the east coast, New York City is under its first drought warning in more than 20 years. New York City’s reservoirs are currently around 60% capacity, but are usually above 79% capacity at this time of year, Rohit Aggarwala, the commissioner of the city’s department of environmental protection, told NBC News. Over the last 10 weeks, the city has had 8.23in less rain than is typical for the period.

The New York City area is expected to see some rain beginning on Wednesday night through Friday that could total up to 3in. Experts say that won’t be enough to overcome the severe drought, but hope it could slow the fires.

“We hope it will be enough to wet dry leaves and pine needles that fuel these fires,” Bill Goodman, a meterologist for the National Weather Service told the New York Times. “But we’ll just have to see what happens, and take it one storm at a time.”

The fires come as scientists warn that the climate crisis is causing more extreme weather events. Hot air causes more water to evaporate from the earth and can cause extreme flooding. But when the conditions are not there for rain, the water evaporating creates more dry conditions that can dry out the ground.

Fire weather – a combination of heat, drought and strong wind – is increasing in some parts of all continents. Human-caused climate change is responsible for a higher likelihood of fire and bigger burned areas in many regions around the world. The climate crisis has increased the wildfire season by about two weeks on average across the globe.

The Jennings Creek wildfire in New Jersey has affected more than 5,000 acres of land, and more than 160 homes were ordered to evacuate.

The New York City fire department has established a brush fire taskforce after they saw 300 brush fires over 18 days, according to ABC7. In a typical year, the department typically sees half that number. Firefighters put out a brushfire in Highbridge Park in upper Manhattan on Tuesday that burned through 10-15 acres of brush.