Strong Atmospheric River Bringing Heavy Rain to the Pacific Northwest; Areas of Snow in the North-Central and Eastern U.S.

A strong atmospheric river will bring prolonged heavy rainfall along with gusty winds to the Pacific Northwest through much of this week. The heavy rainfall may lead to widespread urban and river flooding. Accumulating snow is expected over parts of the central Appalachians and Mid-Atlantic today as well as the Upper Midwest and the Upper Great Lakes this evening into Tuesday. Read More >

Freezing fog and freezing drizzle enveloped much the Inland Northwest during the period of 13-23 January 2009. The area most affected by this was the high plateau region along Highway 2 between Wenatchee and Spokane. Below are some of the pictures taken at the NWS Spokane office showing the accumulation of rime on various objects.

Rime at NWS Spokane

In this picture below, note how the rime grew preferentially on one side of the branches. This was actually the side the light wind (1-3 mph) was blowing from.

Rime on tree branches

In addition to making for interesting ice formations, the freezing fog and drizzle caused serious problems with power outages. Power lines and transformers became encased in the ice and frost. The weight of this additional ice caused downed power lines and power outages along the area of Highway 2 between Spokane and Almira. The photos below were provided courtesy of Avista Corp.

Rime accumulation on power line

Frost and Ice accumulate on power substation

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Strong Atmospheric River Bringing Heavy Rain to the Pacific Northwest; Areas of Snow in the North-Central and Eastern U.S.

Rime Across the Northern Columbia Basin - January 13-23, 2009

In this picture below, note how the rime grew preferentially on one side of the branches. This was actually the side the light wind (1-3 mph) was blowing from.