NASA Image Shows Scale of Atmospheric River Sweeping Northwest

A huge, churning atmospheric river storm can be seen blustering into the Pacific Northwest in a dramatic NASA image.

The NASA map shows the total precipitable water vapor in the atmosphere at 1:30 p.m. PT on Monday, which represents the concentration of water in the air and therefore the capacity of a certain region to downpour.

In the map, made using NASA's GEOS ADAS (Goddard Earth Observing System, Atmospheric Data Assimilation System), the massive current of water vapor can be seen as it swept across western Washington and Oregon, leading to mass flooding and record-breaking rainfall.

An atmospheric river is a long, narrow stream of moist air containing vast volumes of water vapor, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Sometimes called the "Pineapple Express," these storms pull warm, moist air across the Pacific from near Hawaii, falling to the ground as it cools over the U.S. as large quantities of rain or snow.

Several atmospheric river storms hit the U.S. consecutively last winter, coating the mountains with huge amounts of snow and ice, which caused widespread flooding and reservoir refilling when it melted in the spring.

Due to the atmospheric river, several rivers in Washington and Oregon were placed under flood warnings, lasting until late Tuesday night, and two people are feared dead.

"Heavy rain and snowmelt are expected across the Pacific NW today and tomorrow and will bring several rivers to moderate-to-major flood stage across the region," the NWS posted to X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday.

Several locations received record-breaking levels of rain.

"Record daily rainfall of 2.01" at Sea-Tac Airport breaks the record of 1.67" set in 1970," NWS Seattle posted on Tuesday evening. "Record daily rainfall of 2.69" at Olympia Airport breaks the record of 2.18" set in 1970."

In 24 hours alone, Forks, Washington, received 4.69 inches of rain, while Seattle also saw record levels for December 4. Portland and Seattle saw record-high temperatures of 65 degrees Portland on December 4 and 59 degrees in Seattle on December 5.

It is thought that storms including atmospheric rivers and hurricanes are going to get stronger and more frequent with the impacts of climate change.

"Scientists have shown that we can expect that storms are becoming more intense and wetter due to climate change," Kevin A. Reed, an associate professor in Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University, told Newsweek. "But, the reality is that climate change is here and we are already noticing increases in rainfall extremes."

Thankfully, the floods from this storm have begun to recede across much of the impacted areas.

"Lingering river flooding today across much of Western Washington, though rivers are receding. The good news is no rivers are in major flood stage any longer," NWS Seattle posted to X on Wednesday.

It's even hoped that the record-breaking rainfall will help offset the unusually dry summer near Seattle, refilling water supplies.

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