Powerful wind

(MORE: Live Updates)

The National Weather Service in Monterey, California, said Monday that this storm is "expected to be one of the strongest storms in terms of wind and rain intensity" since storms in October 2009 and January 2008.

On Thursday afternoon in Oregon, the Portland International Airport recorded a 67-mph wind gust, its highest wind gust in 33 years.

(MORE: West Coast Storm Impacts)

Powerful wind gusts hit the San Francisco Bay Area Thursday morning, knocking out power to some 150,000 customers. Winds in the Sierra Nevada topped out at 147 mph on the summit of Mount Lincoln, near Truckee.

The storm is also slamming the Pacific Northwest, where hurricane force wind warnings have been posted for the waters along the coast of northwest Oregon and southwest Washington. Over 100,000 customers had lost power in the Northwest by Thursday evening as wind gusts as high as 95 mph ripped northward through Oregon and into Washington.

Numerous flash flood warnings have been issued Thursday, including virtually every county in the San Francisco Bay Area. Multiple freeways have been closed due to flooding, and parts of Sonoma County have seen over 9 inches of rain.