West: How Many More Hot Days Until Relief Arrives?

The Pacific Northwest will get locked into a wet and windy pattern this week, as a series of storms push onshore.

(MORE: What is an atmospheric river?)

We will break down the timing and impacts here:

Timing: rain, snow and wind

Two waves of rain, snow and wind will push inland from the Pacific and through the Northwest and Northern California.

Here’s a look at where the rain and snow are occurring now:

Here's an overview of when we'll see each storm:

Though Early Thursday (Storm #1): The remnant moisture continues to bring showers to much of the Northwest, but winds are coming down.

Winds could gust to 45 mph or more from Northern California to the Intermountain West with the highest winds at the crest of the Sierra Nevada.

A slight break will come between the two events, but lighter rain will remain possible in western portions of Washington and Oregon while lighter snow showers are possible in the northern Rockies.

Thursday night - Friday (Storm #2): A less strong storm system with another atmospheric river will arrive late Thursday afternoon for Washington, Oregon, Idaho and western Montana. This will bring gusty winds, rainfall well into the higher elevations and highest-elevation snow in the northern Cascades and far northern Rockies. This storm will have fewer impacts in California.

How much rain and snow?

As waves of rain push onshore this week, the rainfall totals will be stacking up. Heavy rain, mountain snow and potential mudslides will be a threat, especially in burn scar areas.

From northern California to northern Washington, widespread rainfall totals will range from 3 to 7 inches. However, there will be isolated areas that could pick up as much as a foot of rain.

There will be a threat for flash flooding, as relentless rain pushes in. The flooding potential will increase as the week pushes on, as new rain falls on already saturated ground.

The Snoqualmie River in Washington is already running high because of an atmospheric river that impacted the region over the weekend.

While heavy rain falls in the lower elevations, temperatures are cold enough for mountain snow in the higher elevations.

Parts of the Cascades and northern Rockies could pick up as much as 12-18 inches of snow. Some areas could see even higher amounts.

Even parts of the Sierra Nevada will pick up some snow, albeit not quite as widespread as the northern mountain ranges, and at much higher elevations.

Make sure to check back often, as the forecast could change.

Jennifer Gray is a weather and climate writer for weather.com. She has been covering some of the world's biggest weather and climate stories for the last two decades.