High water made travel difficult on Highway 30 in Linnton, Oregon, on December 26, 2022.
Heavy coastal rain and mountain snow from a potent atmospheric river are falling across the western United States, with more to come later this week.
All 11 Western states are expecting rain or snow, with the heaviest impacts predicted for California. The rain, snow and wind have already knocked out power to 60,000 customers in Oregon and 25,000 in California, according to poweroutage.us.
The atmospheric river -- a long, narrow region in the atmosphere that can transport moisture thousands of miles -- is the reason flood watches were issued for over 7 million people across much of the West Coast, including Seattle and San Francisco.
The greatest flash flooding concerns are for the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, as well as the coastal portions of southern Oregon down through the Bay Area and to Los Angeles County.
Widely scattered instances of flash flooding are possible at lower elevations, particularly in burn scars.
Moderate to heavy rain has been falling across portions of the Bay Area since Monday night and is expected to keep falling for several days.
As of mid-morning Tuesday, downtown San Francisco had recorded 1.21 inches of rain, Santa Rosa 2.72 inches and Mount Tamalpais 4.10 inches.
Law enforcement had reports of roadway flooding, so the National Weather Service office issued a flood advisory.
The storm will bring a temperature drop of 15-20 degrees to Southern California.
"Say goodbye to the warmth," the National Weather Service in Los Angeles tweeted Monday. "Big drop in temperatures on track between today and tomorrow (Tuesday). Expect 15-20 degrees of cooling thanks to the approaching storm system."
Temperatures could get as low as 49 on Wednesday night in Los Angeles, the weather service predicted.
Portland breaks daily rainfall record
Areas to the west of Portland have seen up to 6 inches of precipitation in the past 24 hours, and the city broke a daily record Monday.
Portland recorded 2.12 inches of rain, breaking the old record of 1.08 inches set on December 26, 1996. Monday was the third rainiest December day on record in Portland.
Over the next five days, rainfall across much of the West is forecast to be between 2-4 inches with isolated pockets up to 6 inches. Along the coast, rainfall is forecast to be between 4-6 inches with isolated areas potentially seeing higher.
In terms of snowfall, winter storm alerts have been issued for 11 Western states.
Over the next five days, lower elevation areas could see between 2-10 inches of snowfall with isolated areas getting 12-24 inches.
Snowfall in higher elevations could be between 1-3 feet with isolated areas seeing over 3 feet.
California is off to a fast start with snowpack, a critical source of water and good news for some improvement in drought conditions. As of late last week, the state's snowpack was running more than 150% of normal, according to the California Department of Water Resources.
Increasingly strong winds are a concern Tuesday, especially near the coast and at higher elevations. Over 15 million people are under wind alerts in 12 states.
Strong winds in Portland could knock down trees that have been weakened by weather extremes in recent years, arborist Colin Bourgeois told CNN affiliate KATU.
"The consecutive dry summers that we've had, especially the heat events like the heat dome, that really damages trees and it takes up so much of their energy to fuel their immune systems to fight off pathogens," Bourgeois said.
The-CNN-Wire
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