All articles tagged with #pacific northwest
A potentially record-breaking El Niño is intensifying, threatening Washington State’s coastal communities with severe flooding during the upcoming king-tide season. While local governments scramble for infrastructure fixes, the phenomenon is also disrupting marine ecosystems globally, from Peru’s penguin colonies to Chile’s aquaculture sector.
Amtrak Cascades will debut its new Airo trainsets on September 30, 2026, making the Pacific Northwest the first region in the country to use the fleet. Manufactured by Siemens, the trains feature modern amenities and advanced monitoring systems. Initially, two trainsets will operate four daily trips between Vancouver, British Columbia, Seattle, Portland, and Eugene, with the full rollout of eight sets expected by early 2027.
Strengthening El Niño signals a wetter California with above-average Sierra snowfall, especially in January, based on three climate models (CFSv2, SEAS5, NMME). Warmer conditions could lift the rain-snow line, boosting snowfall at higher elevations while reducing it at lower ones, and the Pacific Northwest may be warmer and drier. Tahoe resorts are planning openings from late November into December, but snowfall will be uneven and highly localized.
NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center says fall (Sept–Nov) will be warmer than average for most of the U.S., with the Pacific Northwest likely to be the warmest region as El Niño approaches a “super” strength. The outlook also suggests a wetter winter for parts of the South, drier conditions in the Northeast and West, and potential impacts on Atlantic hurricane activity and coastal flooding; Hawaii is expected to stay warm into fall before a cooler winter.
A bright fireball lit up the night sky across the Pacific Northwest between 12:45 a.m. and 12:50 a.m. during the Perseid meteor shower, with sightings from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia. Witnesses described an orange or green streak followed by a flash; there is no indication the object reached the ground, and what some heard as an explosion was likely the meteor breaking apart high in the atmosphere. If you saw it, send video to [email protected] for a possible on-air feature.
Across Washington and Oregon, roughly 2.9 million acres have burned this year, destroying hundreds of homes as 95 large wildfires blaze across the Pacific Northwest; nationwide, the U.S. has logged about 6.3 million acres burned and more than 45,800 fires, with firefighting resources stretched to the limit. Experts warn that an impending very strong El Niño will likely prolong heat and drought into autumn, keeping fire risk elevated across the West.
Spokane, Washington faced unprecedented wildfires this summer, forcing about a quarter of the city’s 65,000 residents to evacuate as three large fires burn with under 40% containment. Roughly 900 buildings are believed destroyed, there have been no deaths or major injuries, and authorities have charged a suspect in an arson case connected to the fires while recovery begins amid forecasts of more dry, windy days.
An expansive heat dome bakes much of the western U.S., but Seattle stays cool thanks to a trough off British Columbia, keeping Puget Sound in the 70s with light rain; Eastern Washington faces critical fire-weather due to gusty, dry winds; the heat dome shifts toward California mid‑week, after which a more typical West Coast ridge returns and Seattle warms into the 80s.
Oregon is home to the four largest active wildfires in the United States, with the fifth-largest burning in Washington, underscoring a severe Pacific Northwest fire season driven by climate change.
Dense smoke from Canadian wildfires shrouds major cities and dangerous air quality expands from the Pacific Northwest to the Midwest and Northeast as about 9,000 lightning strikes hit Oregon and Washington; experts call the conditions cosmically unlucky while the World Cup final looms amid the smoky backdrop.
A PNRI-led study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports a severe outbreak of bivalve transmissible neoplasia in Washington soft-shell clams, with infection prevalence rising from about 45% in Triangle Cove (2022) and 13% in Stanwood to roughly 75% by 2024, making it one of the region’s largest documented outbreaks. The affected clams are non-native to the West Coast, likely introduced from Atlantic populations in the 1870s. Oregon officials say the current risk to their coast is low, and shellfish movements are being tested and monitored by state agencies (WDFW and ODFW).
The U.S. Department of Energy announced Travis Kavulla as Administrator and CEO of the Bonneville Power Administration, tasking him with delivering affordable, reliable, and secure power to the Pacific Northwest; Under Secretary Kyle Haustveit will swear him in at BPA's Portland, Oregon headquarters on June 29.
Researchers in the Puget Sound region detected the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis in 37% of 100 coyotes, marking the first wild West Coast detection in the contiguous U.S.; the parasite can trigger cancer-like liver cysts in humans and dogs and uses a multi-host life cycle involving canids and rodents. Genetic analysis links a more infectious European-origin strain now circulating in North America; human West Coast cases remain rare, though canine infections have occurred. The study calls for enhanced wildlife surveillance and routine veterinary care to reduce risk.
A live yellow-legged hornet (Vespa velutina) was found April 30 aboard a ship at the Port of Vancouver on the Lower Columbia River and is being monitored after traps were set; experts warn this invasive, more mobile hornet—smaller than the notorious northern giant hornet—could threaten Northwest honeybees and agriculture and might spread coast-to-coast, though no further nests have been found yet.
Under NSF's descoping push, four Ocean Observatories Initiative arrays are being dismantled—off the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, North Carolina, and Greenland—with most in-water equipment to be removed by 2027, including Washington’s Coastal Endurance Array already taken out; only Oregon’s Regional Cabled Array remains, prompting concerns about loss of long-term ocean data for science, fisheries, and maritime safety.