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Several rounds of heavy rain are heading into the Northwest, increasing the risk of flash flooding.

An atmospheric river — a stream of Pacific moisture originating near Hawaii— will slam into the Northwest over the next 72 hours. This will bring waves of heavy rain to the Northwest.

Rainfall totals in the 3-to-6-inch range, with even higher 8-plus totals over Washington’s Olympic mountains and the immediate Pacific Coast are likely through Wednesday. This is on top of the several inches of rainfall that fell over the weekend.

With the origins of this system being from the sub-tropical Pacific, snow levels will be extremely high, likely well above 9,000 feet — about twice the elevation of Denver. Heavy rain below those levels, especially on southwestward facing slopes will melt the early snow already on the ground, increasing the risk of mountain flooding and mudslides.

Flood watches have been posted across western Oregon, western and central Washington, and northern Idaho. This includes Seattle, Portland, Ore., and Coeur D’Alene, Idaho.

Drivers should keep an eye out for flooded roads and avoid crossing water-covered ones. The depth of the water and conditions of the flood water may not be known. Turn Around, Don’t Drown.

The rain will fade late Wednesday, but showers will be possible through the rest of the week across the Northwest. The next big rainmaker will move into the Northwest next weekend.

Track all of the changes using our WeatherRadar.

Each year, thousands of pets suffer in the cold from frostbite, hypothermia, or worse. Check our top tips to keep your furry friend safe and warm this winter.

While some breeds can handle the cold better than others, many cannot adapt to the elements and need a little extra protection and help from their owners.

Experts say it is a myth that dogs and cats can fend for themselves any more than human beings can, and no one enjoys being cold.

We recently explained how to create magical frozen soap bubbles, but do you know how to photograph them too?

The most epic photographs of the frozen soap bubbles are captured by a camera and tripod. Using a manual focus setting you can zoom in on the soap bubble, ideally against a darker background.

A remote shutter release can also be helpful so that nothing blurs, but if not, the steady tripod will do. Above all, it has to be super snappy, because it only takes a few seconds from blowing it out to freezing the soap bubble.

The soap bubbles are also most beautiful in the morning light when the rising sun shines sideways on these magical works of art. During that time of day, the temperatures are also the lowest and in many cases the winds are lighter than later in the day.

In addition to the professional style camera, photos were also tested with a mobile phone camera, which as you can see above also worked pretty well!

So have fun, and don't forget to send in your shots to our uploader to feature!

There it is folks! Everything does come to an end, and so did this hurricane season!

Opposed to what many might think, or how it might have seemed, this season was very busy. The 2023 Atlantic Hurricane season had 21 storms, but only 19 were named as there was a no-name storm that formed on January 16, a few hundred miles east of the Mid-Atlantic coast. This one went unnoticed by many, even in the meteorology world.

This 2023 season was fueled by the very warm, well above-average, tropical waters, and periods of tranquility in windshear, enough to make over 20 storms spin up, including those that did not get to be officially granted a name. The presence of El Niño did not really put a dent in the tropical activity as the season was above average, and there were still 3 U.S. landfalling named storms, 4 of which made landfall in the Caribbean. And then there was the last storm of the season, Potential Tropical Cyclone 21, which made landfall in Nicaragua.

10 out of the 21 storms (including the one in January and PTC21) were at or passed 60 degrees West, so basically from the Lesser Antilles to the Americas. The others were 11 storms that stayed over the open Atlantic Ocean waters.

The season officially started with the first named system, Arlene, which formed over the eastern Gulf of Mexico. It moved southward and dissipated before reaching the northern coast of Cuba.

African tropical wave activity started early! The second named system was born from an African tropical wave close to 1500 miles east of the Caribbean, more than halfway (closer to Africa) between the two hemispheres. The Windward Islands received plenty of rain and tropical storm-force winds.

Don became the first hurricane of the season. It reached category 1 status on July 22, and luckily it stayed offshore, over the open northern Atlantic waters.

Tropical Storm Gert at the beginning of August became a relentless storm. It dissipated, came back to life, and made turns and loops just to the northeast of the Caribbean. It finally came to its end after whirling around Idalia in late August.

Franklin became the second hurricane of the season, and it was the second named system to directly strike the Caribbean. Franklin specifically hit the Dominican Republic as a tropical storm, killing two people and displacing many as over 500 homes were damaged by the water. After it emerged over the Atlantic, the storm gained strength and reached a major category hurricane, the first of the season on August 28.

It was a massive system, with a well-defined eye, going through several eye replacement cycles. Idalia gave this storm a beating too, as much of Idalia´s outflow hindered Franklin´s organization, weakening the system as it moved over the Atlantic Ocean.

Tropical Storm Harold was the first named system to make landfall in the United States. Tropical storm-force winds were recorded along the southern Texas coast as well as a 2-foot storm surge and between 2 and 4 inches of rain. Northern Mexico also took on impacts with over 4 inches of rain falling in Piedras Negras in a short amount of time. Its remnants even impacted the southwestern region of the United States where heavy rains were recorded. One person died and one was missing in Las Vegas.

The big story maker for the U.S. was Hurricane Idalia. This was a Major Category 4 Hurricane at landfall on August 30 in the Big Bend region of Florida. Idalia struck one of the least populated areas of Florida, but it came with enough power to make it memorable and still impact many. It is estimated that damages range between 2 and 5 billion dollars. Thousands were displaced and 4 people died, in Florida and Georgia combined. Idalia crossed the Southeast and emerged over the Atlantic bringing a long round of rip currents and high surf for much of the East Coast during the Labor Day Weekend.

Lee made landfall in southeastern Canada as an extratropical cyclone, after it was a category 3 hurricane while traveling over the open Atlantic waters. This system was big and caused dangerous surf and rip currents along the East Coast. Three fatalities were reported.

Tropical Storm Ophelia was also one of the books. It was the 3rd named system to directly impact the United States. It made landfall on September 22 near Emerald Island, North Carolina. Floodwaters damaged many homes and the storm´s winds downed trees and power lines.

Tropical Storm Philippe was a slow one. It also doesn´t help that it came from Africa as a tropical wave, slowly gaining strength, so there was a long time to watch it. It made landfall in Barbuda, leaving thousands without power and running water across many of the small islands in the northeastern Caribbean.

On October 22 another storm made landfall in Barbuda, Tammy. It left many residents with a second round of power outages and caused some evacuations.

This season is a good reminder for many residents that although there might be an atmospheric pattern in place that could put a hinder of activity, it is not always 100% set in stone. There are multiple variables to this big hurricane recipe. It only takes one storm to make it a busy season for you or your loved ones. As we move through the holidays, let's enjoy our loved ones, and keep in mind that another season is less than 6 months away and there are several ways to add to the “preparedness can” to be ready for the 2024 season.

The Webb Space Telescope is continuing to change the way astronomers think about the universe. The latest discovery involves the creation of planets.

The Webb’s medium resolution spectrometer, pointed at the Lobster Nebula 5,500 light-years away from Earth, detected water, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, Hydrogen cyanide and acetylene, in a very hot and hostile disk in this massive star-forming complex. These chemicals, along with crystalline silicate dust, are the building blocks for rocky planets.

Previously, scientists only saw these formative substances in star-forming regions where low-mass stars form. Ultra-violet radiation from the Lobster Nebula was believed to affect the development and age of the disk known for creating planets.

Additionally, data from Webb will be studied but scientists believe these new finding suggest rocky planets can form in a wider range of environments.

Previously, the Webb telescope has provided new discoveries:

Linkbox 2(1 Year Later: Space Telescope producing amazing images): https://www.weatherandradar.com/weather-news/1-year-later-space-telescope-producing-amazing-images--e0fd8680-e536-4c05-a50a-fb78c96bdb51