After last week's record river flooding in Washington state, more atmospheric rivers are taking aim at the West, set to bring heavy rain, mountain snow and damaging winds to Washington, Oregon and California.

CIRA shared impressive footage of an atmospheric river making its way to the Pacific Northwest, bringing with it heavy rain and snow.

An atmospheric river is a flowing area of water vapor transporting moisture from the tropics into mid-latitudes and northern latitudes. It's a term that's been around since the 1990s, but they've been occurring forever.

Flooding rains and lingering storm impacts come as the atmospheric river that hit the Pacific Northwest this week will make another visit to the region next week.

A wide-reaching winter storm has already knocked power from more than 500,000 customers in Washington and Oregon as of early Wednesday morning.

KOIN 6 Chief Meteorologist Josh Cozart explains when the second visit from this week's atmospheric river is expected to move back into the Pacific Northwest.