atmospheric river

Communities along upper Lake Chelan are beginning the slow work of recovery after flooding and landslides.

Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year in the Bavarian style tourist town of Leavenworth. Last week, debris and flooding from an atmospheric river knocked out power across the area for days; including half a million twinkling lights downtown.

Communities throughout Chelan County are getting more intense weather, following an atmospheric river that caused extensive damage throughout the Northwest last week.

Flooding and landslides have left communities along upper Lake Chelan dealing with major damage, nearly a year after wildfire weakened hillsides in the area. A town only accessible by boat is cut off from the rest of the area because of the atmospheric river fallout.

Rain, flooding, storms – all pretty standard for Western Washington, but sometimes weather patterns spare some areas that have flooded before. That was the case at the beginning of December, when Western Washington got so much rain that it caused flooding from the Stillaguamish River to the town of Rosburg.