© NASAAn enormous, 5,000-mile long atmospheric river (seen above) that spans from China to North America heading for the Pacific Northwest.
An atmospheric river is poised to funnel gigantic amounts of rain and snow to the Northwest over the next few days.
As much as 15 inches of rain is forecast in the mountains along with several inches in coastal areas, including Portland and Seattle. It could be Seattle's wettest weather since February, the National Weather Service said.
There is also a risk of flash flooding in western Washington and northwestern Oregon on Thursday as a result of the heavy rainfall, the weather service warned.
Snowfall will expand throughout the Washington and Oregon Cascades and parts of the northern Rockies on Thursday - with some light snowfall in higher elevations of northern California. By Friday, snow will continue across the Cascades and throughout the northern Rockies.
On the very tops of the Cascade mountains, a whopping 9 feet of snow could fall, the weather service said.
Some of the rain will make it down to fire-ravaged California in the next few days. However, while a few periods of rain are in store for northern California late Thursday through Friday, a widespread, fire-quenching rainfall is not expected, AccuWeather said.
Another one of these rivers in the sky could funnel rain into Oregon by the weekend.
Comment: In the wake of Queensland's floods vegetable prices have soared.