Atmospheric river brings flooding, power outages to West Coast

A powerful winter storm brought on by an atmospheric river hit parts of the West Coast on Tuesday, including portions of Northern California, Oregon and Washington state, causing blustery winds, dumping several inches of rain and bringing flooding to some areas.

As of Tuesday evening, more than 190,000 homes and businesses in the Pacific Northwest were without power, according to PowerOutage.us.

The storm was caused by an atmospheric river – a weather system made up of a long narrow channel that carries water vapor.