Tens of thousands of homes in Washington state lost power Tuesday and downed wires or trees locked some highways as Northern California and the Pacific Northwest started feeling the effects of a powerful atmospheric river event,

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

Bomb cyclone is a term used by weather enthusiasts to describe a process that meteorologists usually call bombogenesis. It's the rapid intensification of a cyclone in a short period of time, and it can happen during powerful storms such as the one northern California and the Pacific Northwest are preparing for this week.