All articles tagged with #pacific northwest
Mail-in ballots have been the norm in Oregon and Washington for decades, but President Trump’s attacks and related federal moves—USPS funding cuts, executive orders, and court challenges—have turned a once-bipartisan system into a partisan battleground, prompting lawsuits and warnings from election officials who fear eroding public trust in a process those states helped pioneer.
NASA-ISRO’s NISAR satellite captured cloud-covered imagery of the Pacific Northwest on Nov. 10, 2025 using L-band radar to see through clouds, highlighting Seattle, Portland, Mount Rainier, and Mount Saint Helens. With dual SAR instruments and a large 39-foot antenna, NISAR revisits areas roughly every 12 days to monitor changes in forests, wetlands, urban areas, and infrastructure, and to detect subtle ground movements associated with natural hazards such as volcanoes, earthquakes, landslides, and floods. The data aid resource management, hazard monitoring, and environmental decision‑making.
A bright green fireball was captured on a dashcam over southwestern Washington near Portland, lighting up the dawn sky as a meteor seen across the Pacific Northwest. The green color is typically from magnesium (nickel can contribute), and NASA notes related fireball sightings across multiple states and Ontario, with a larger Ohio meteor fragmenting and possibly reaching the ground. With more dashboard and doorbell cameras, scientists may deduce trajectory, though ground hits from fireballs are rare.
A dashcam video, though unplayable due to a technical error, appears to show a meteor exploding into a green fireball over parts of the Pacific Northwest, days after a suspected meteorite crashed through the roof of a home in Texas.
Amtrak is rolling out the Airo fleet—a $8 billion upgrade of 83 Siemens trains—to modernize aging cars, beginning this summer on the Cascades route in the Pacific Northwest and later expanding to the Northeast; the redesigned interior includes larger windows, brighter lighting, more outlets, and accessibility upgrades, with seats that slide forward instead of reclining, a change that has drawn mixed reviews; the Cascades trains will seat up to 300 (vs about 168 today) and run up to 125 mph, aided by power-switching locomotives; funding includes federal Infrastructure Act money, and Amtrak plans more routes as ridership hit 34.5 million in 2025.
A levee breach in Tukwila, Washington, has caused a flash flood warning and evacuation in the Seattle suburbs, impacting over 45,000 residents as water levels rise due to ongoing atmospheric rivers and heavy rain, with emergency responses underway and flood watches in effect for the region.
A severe winter weather pattern is affecting the US, with cold temperatures across the East and heavy rain in the Pacific Northwest, raising flood concerns and bringing widespread cold alerts.
A weekend storm brought heavy snow to the Northeast and frigid temperatures across the Midwest and East Coast, causing airport delays and hazardous road conditions, while the Pacific Northwest faces more rain after recent flooding.
The Pacific Northwest is experiencing an influx of climate migrants fleeing environmental risks like droughts, wildfires, and flooding in other regions, prompting experts to advise the area to prepare for population growth and increased climate resilience, emphasizing community strength as a key factor.
A new craft flour mill on the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon is providing economic hope for local wheat farmers and Native communities by creating jobs and establishing a local market for wheat, helping to diversify an economy heavily reliant on exports and traditional industries amid challenging trade conditions.
Thieves stole over $1 million worth of rare 10-year-old Garryana whiskey from Westland Distillery in Washington, involving a sophisticated fraud scheme. The stolen bottles are highly recognizable and rare, making resale difficult, and the distillery is cooperating with authorities while focusing on customer service. The incident highlights the challenges of secondary market sales and the value of provenance for craft spirits.
A severe heat wave across the Western U.S. has caused record-high temperatures, increased wildfire risks, and health warnings, affecting over 30 million people in states like California, Oregon, Washington, and Arizona, with some areas experiencing their hottest days of the year.
Kroger announced the permanent closure of approximately 60 stores across the U.S. over the next 18 months to improve financial performance, with no specific stores in Washington listed; the closures are part of a broader strategy to reinvest savings into customer experience, and affected employees will be offered roles at other stores. Despite store closures, Kroger reported strong first-quarter profits of $866 million, boosting its stock price.
Donald Trump withdrew the US from a historic salmon recovery agreement in the Pacific Northwest, citing concerns over 'radical environmentalism,' which has been criticized by tribes and conservationists as a setback for salmon and ecological health, despite plans to invest over $1 billion in recovery efforts and clean energy projects.
President Trump withdrew from a Biden-era agreement aimed at resolving legal disputes with Native American tribes over dams on the Snake River, which are blamed for declining salmon populations. The move reverses efforts to study dam breaching and restore fish populations, leading to criticism from tribes and Democrats, and praise from opponents who favor maintaining the dams for energy and economic reasons.