Two die in car and rare snow forecast for Seattle as storms batter western US

The Pacific Northwest faces a prolonged cold snap with heavy snow predicted for the mountains and even coastal cities

Two people have died in a submerged car, evacuations have been ordered for wildfire-scarred California, and Seattle and Portland face the rare chance of snowy streets as a wave of storms rolled through the western United States.

The new storms, which could drop rain and snow over much of the region into next week and plunge the Pacific Northwest into a lengthy cold snap, follow a now-departed atmospheric river that delivered copious amounts of precipitation this week.