Bomb cyclone impacts West Coast, 2 dead in Washington state

(BELLEVUE, Wash.) — Two people have been killed by falling trees in Washington state as a powerful storm hits the Pacific Northwest.

In Bellevue, a tree fell into a home, hitting and killing a woman while she was in the shower Tuesday night, Bellevue fire officials said.

In Lynwood, a woman in her 50s was killed when a tree fell on a homeless encampment, officials said.

More than 500,000 customers are without power in Washington state on Wednesday.

The storm exploded into a bomb cyclone off the coast, near Vancouver Island, Canada, where winds gusted near 101 mph.

A bomb cyclone means the pressure in the center of the storm drops 24 millibars within 24 hours.

Wind gusts reached 50 to 84 mph from Northern California to Washington.

As the storm sits and spins over the ocean this week, it will help to push a plume of Pacific moisture called an atmospheric river into Oregon and Northern California.

Alerts are in effect through Friday for flooding, snow, avalanches and high winds.

Some places could see more than 1 foot of rain this week. A flood watch has been issued in Northern California.

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