The Pacific Northwest has a rainy reputation. But not like this.
An onslaught of destructive weather in December has broken records, flooded rivers, forced evacuations, caused widespread power outages and dazzled meteorologists.
"This will go down as one of the craziest weather months you'll ever see in the region," said Seattle-based meteorologist Michael Snyder on X on Dec. 15.
Forecasters, including AccuWeather meteorologist Chad Merrill, lay part of the blame on the La Niña weather pattern, which often leads to more frequent winter storms in the Pacific Northwest, (La Niña also famously can steer cold weather elsewhere in the country).
That pattern, combined with a series of storms that dumped more rain than snow, has led to a historic spate of flooding.
