Weird Out Of Season Atmospheric River Hits Pacific Northwest, Does More Good Than Harm

Satellite view of atmospheric river hitting the 
Pacific Northwest Friday. Those are 
exceptionally rare in the summer. 

The Pacific Northwest has a cloudy, wet reputation, but in the summer, the water shuts off over there, and this area is usually pretty dry in August. 

Not at the moment, though. 

An atmospheric river has hit Washington and Oregon, dumping near record amounts of rain for this time of year.  

Seattle averages about an inch of rain each August. That much fell just in the past two days.  It was the most rain at once in August in at least a decade.  

Atmospheric rivers are fairly common along the U.S. West Coast in the winter but are super rare in the summer. 

These weather systems are narrow bands of atmospheric moisture that can travel hundreds or even thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean and then come ashore, unleashing torrential rains.  Atmospheric 

The atmospheric river is doing far more good than harm since almost all of Washington and much of Oregon is in a drought.  

This atmospheric river won't entirely solve the problem, but at least it will help. Maybe. 

The drought made it difficult to forecast the impacts of the atmospheric river. The National Weather Service in Seattle had this to say in a hydrologic outlook ahead of the storm,

"Very dry antecedent conditions has left the area soils dry and hard. This amount of rainfall in one storm will not have much tie to soak into the very dry soil, which will result in heavy surface runoff. Impacts are uncertain due to how much moisture will be able to be absorbed by the soil."

Most rivers won't flood, since they're starting out so low. But outdoor enthusiast might be taken by surprise by unusually high water for this time of year. For instance, people who might be used to setting up camp in or near a dry river bed during the summer might fall victim to fast flowing water.

The atmospheric river also hit parts of British Columbia, Canada. It was actually beneficial there, too. Wildfires were spreading in western British Columbia so this is a big help, since it was a real soaker. Vancouver picked up 1.69 inches of rain Friday, its fifth wettest August day on record. 

 The rainy weather was starting to clear up in the Pacific Northwest today. Clouds, cool weather and light showers will continue the rest of the weekend. But the Seattle, Portland and other cities in the region will revert to their usual dry, sunny August weather during the upcoming week. 

Inland parts of eastern Oregon are still under a flood watch today as the remnants of the atmospheric rive remove inland to trigger shower and storms. Some downpours over wildfire burn scars could cause some debris flows.