Rain has begun falling in California where an atmospheric river is expected to bring heavy downpours, winds and flooding to areas ravaged by wildfires

Snow is starting to fall across the southern and mid-Willamette Valley. It will arrive in the Portland area by 8 a.m. Several school districts have already announced closures ahead of the winter weather.

Note: The National Weather Service (NWS) reported that its radar is currently down over the Portland metro area, so the data seen on the interactive radar below is from before 6 a.m. Thursday. We'll update this article once the NWS reports that its radar service has been restored.

I was hoping that we could avoid a significant snow/ice event this winter, but now it appears something significant weatherwise is looming for Thursday and Friday.

Meanwhile, Portland coated its streets with 2,000 gallons of liquid anti-icer while officials in Oregon and Idaho opened emergency shelters to prepare for a punishing mix of snow and ice starting Thursday.

Heavy snow and freezing rain caused hundreds of traffic crashes in Virginia and left tens of thousands of residents in the dark as the central Appalachians and parts of the mid-Atlantic states braced for heavy rains on Wednesday.

Snow, sleet and freezing rain were expected to continue pummeling the central Appalachians and mid-Atlantic states Wednesday, while California readied for a storm that could flood areas ravaged by the recent wildfires.