At least one person has died and hundreds of thousands are are without power Wednesday as a powerful bomb cyclone approached the Pacific Northwest and Northern California, causing high winds and heavy rain and snow.

One person is reported killed as the largest atmospheric river system of the year sweeps across California, Oregon, and Washington, where up to 16 inches of rain could fall.

A powerful atmospheric river is slamming into Northern California and is expected to persist for days. Its effects, coupled with a bomb cyclone offshore, are being felt across the Pacific Northwest.