La Niña, a complex climate pattern in the Pacific Ocean, interrupts normal weather patterns across the globe, and the Pacific Northwest is no exception. 

La Niña came through the PNW late winter of last year and Washingtonians felt the impact of devastating winds and dangerous debris. In the months since, multiple news outlets have reported on the widespread damage to people and their homes, recounting the stress those affected have been put under. 

During a normal year, warm water moves west from South Africa to Asia, replaced with cold water in a process called upwelling. The National Ocean Service says, “El Niño and La Niña are two opposing climate patterns that break these normal conditions… Episodes of El Niño and La Niña typically last nine to 12 months, but can sometimes last for years. El Niño and La Niña events occur every two to seven years, on average, but they don’t occur on a regular schedule.”

Opposing conditions lead to drastic weather changes like snow storms, hurricanes, bomb cyclones, and atmospheric rivers. As stated in a Thunderword article last quarter, a bomb cyclone is a low pressure storm that forms with a severe and quick drop in pressure over a short time.

The unusual weather developed on Nov. 8, 2024 in the northeast pacific and struck the west coast and Canada. This included a storm which underwent bombogenesis, rapidly dropping its central pressure and cold water from the deep rising to the surface creating a record pressure tying level of 942 milbars (27.8), according to measure of barometric pressure. 

These high pressure winds caused substantial damages. Neighbors and witnesses from Kent, Renton, Auburn, and Bellevue reported that they lost the electric power, intense winds knocked out trees, damaged homes and electrical posts. Firefighters were in the dark rescuing people trapped in their homes in the middle of the night without power.

Fox 13 reported one woman in Bellevue was killed by a falling tree in her home. The other victim was a homeless woman in Lynnwood living in a homeless camp, where many tents were affected by the storm.  

Bellevue Fire Department spokesperson Heather Hong commented, “Snohomish country does not sound the emergency alarms unless the temperature drops below freezing.” At the time shelters were open to offer safe space for homeless people, to avoid leaving them at mercy of the unprecedented weather. 

Furthermore, the fire department received 335 emergency calls where people were injured or trapped in their home. In these pitch dark conditions, rescue workers had to deal with the overwhelming volume of needs stretching from Pierce county, to Bellevue and Snohomish. 

So far, La Niña in the Northwest has been blissful this month. We are at the end of January and so far we have not seen snow like in many other years. According to the National Weather Services, climate predictions for King County are favorable. The probability of heavy snow at this time is poor. Enjoy the sunny days.