The Bay Area and Northern California awoke Wednesday to the arrival of a storm fueled by a strong atmospheric river and intensified by a so-called "bomb cyclone" off the Pacific Northwest coast.

A powerful atmospheric river is unleashing torrential, flooding rainfall across Northern California and parts of the Pacific Northwest in the wake of a historically strong bomb cyclone — and another storm is on the way.

The effects of the so-called bomb cyclone storm on Southern California will be less dramatic compared with the north, weather forecasters say.

The first atmospheric river storm of the winter rainy season slammed into California on Wednesday. Driven by a powerful “bomb cyclone” off British Columbia, it brought heavy rains to Sonoma and Marin counties, dumping more than 6 inches in the hills above Guerneville by mid-afternoon.

On Thursday, rain poured across the northern edge of the state, slowly moving south. Santa Rosa Airport saw 4.93 inches of rain, shattering its previous daily record in 2001 of 0.93 inches.

A third day of an atmospheric river storm has inundated Northern California and the Bay Area, prompting warnings and advisories about local flooding.

A major storm with heavy snow and record rain that's moving through Northern California has toppled trees, closed roads and prompted evacuations in some areas after knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of people in Washington and Oregon.

California officials have reported that the state has received a record amount of rain and snow due to a bomb cyclone that arrived on the West Coast last week