Northern California and the Pacific Northwest residents on Tuesday were bracing for the strongest atmospheric river storm system, bringing a lot of rain to some areas and creating the potential for a “bomb cyclone” that can intensify wind overnight.

A powerful winter storm brewing near the Pacific Northwest known as a bomb cyclone is dragging an atmospheric river.

The storm, known as a " bomb cyclone ," is dragging an atmospheric river along with it, a plume of moisture-filled air that "will act like a massive firehose of rain at low elevations and a giant snow gun over the high country,