‘Bomb Cyclone’ Wind Storm Set to Roar Up the East Coast

What to Expect from this ‘Bomb Cyclone’

A powerful winter storm, known as a ‘bomb cyclone’ will make for a messy end to the work week along the entire immediate East Coast. This winter storm will bring snow and ice. Earth Networks Meteorologists James West and Anthony Sagliani expect parts of New England to experience blizzard conditions as well.

Why and When is this Happening?

Wow RARE: Snow in #Tallahassee, #Florida this morning. Very rare as they haven’t seen snow for 28years In the city… source: @mikeseidel #SevereWeather #ExtremeCold pic.twitter.com/Kg1k2pUZxc

— WEATHER/ METEO WORLD (@StormchaserUKEU) January 3, 2018

Frigid, arctic air is already in place throughout the eastern U.S. This is one of the main ingredients needed for a messy, wintry weather mix. Soon, it will mix with a low-pressure system. We expect this system to develop and intensify later this morning and afternoon off the coast of northeastern Florida and southeastern Georgia. The low will provide the moisture needed for this ‘bomb cyclone’s’ snow and ice.

Believe it or now, rain switched over to freezing rain, sleet, and snow this morning across northeastern Florida and southeastern Georgia. Depending on temperatures, up to a quarter of an inch of ice could accumulate through this afternoon across northeastern Florida and southeastern Georgia.

A changeover to snow will occur across interior southeastern Georgia. There, up to 2-4 inches are possible. In places where the snow begins sooner this morning, up to 6 inches of snow will be possible by the time the snow departs up the coast this evening.

The storm and ice will cause roads to become slick and dangerous. Widespread power outages are also possible. Why do winter power outages happen? In this case, the accumulating ice will bring down trees and power lines. This area is not accustomed to the wintry weather and it might take a couple of days for the area to return to normal. Transportation departments and other government bodies responsible for clearing snow should ensure they have equipment ready to go already.

It Gets Worse

The storm will continue to intensify as it crawls up the East Coast, bringing a mixture of up to 2 inches of snow and a glaze of ice to the coast of the Carolina’s tonight and early Thursday. The storm will speed up the coast Thursday afternoon. Then, it will bring up to 6 inches of snow form the Virginia Tidewater, including Virginia Beach and Norfolk, to the southern Delmarva Peninsula tonight into Thursday afternoon. High winds roaring off the coast will also cause reduced visibility, dangerous roads, and some coastal flooding.

There’s a chance that light snow could produce up to a dusting of accumulation as far west as the Mid-Atlantic’s Interstate 95 corridor early Thursday. This includes:

• Richmond, Va.
• Washington, D.C.
• Baltimore, Md.
• Northern Deleware
• Philadelphia

Snow will move into eastern Long Island and New England later tonight or early Thursday morning and continue through Thursday. Snowfall accumulations will be in the 9 to 12 inches range across eastern Long Island and southeastern and eastern New England. This includes the greater Boston area. more inland locations will receive 3-6 inches of snow. This includes the greater New York  City area and western New England, with a rapid drop-off in accumulations west of the Hudson River and I-91 in New England.

Besides the snow, New England needs to worry about winds. Wind gusts that could reach 60-60 mph will wallop coastal New England from Cape Cod and the adjacent islands northward into eastern Maine. This will create blizzard conditions. Zero visibility will make travel dangerous and coastal flooding and beach erosion will be possible along the immediate coast.

What is a ‘Bomb Cyclone’ any way?

We bet the last sentence about the beach erosion and coastal flooding reminded you a bit of a hurricane. That’s because that’s what this storm is most like.

‘Bomb Cyclones’ are also known as winter hurricanes. We call it a “bomb” because its pressure is predicted to fall so fast. Remember when we covered Hurricane Maria and Irma in the early fall? They intensified when the pressure dropped.

Nor’easter “bomb” will be MASSIVE — circulation will expand across 50 degrees of longitude, from Iowa into central Atlantic.
This 850 mb wind speed map is a classic, apex intensity “extratropical” cyclone maturing into a “warm-seclusion” or “occluded” storm … #SoMuchJargon pic.twitter.com/6kZEUIIbvW

— Ryan Maue | weather.us (@RyanMaue) January 2, 2018

Same goes for this winter storm. It will strengthen at an explosive pace tonight. This storm could possible rank as the most intense over the waters east of New England in decades at this time of the year. Luckily, the most extreme conditions will remain out on the ocean.

Advisories and Warnings

Currently, Blizzard Warnings have been posted for far eastern Massachusetts, including:

• Cape Cod
• Martha’s Vineyard
• Southeastern New Hampshire
• Eastern Maine

Winter Storm Warnings are in effect along the Southeast Coast, including:

• Savannah, Ga.
• Hilton Head, S.C.
• Charleston, S.C.
• The Outer Banks
• Wilmington, N.C.
• Tallahassee, Fla.
• Lake City, Fla.

The winter storm warnings in Florida are the first for the state in nearly 4 years.

Winter Weather Advisories surround the warnings and include Apalachicola, Gainesville, and Jacksonville, Fla., as well as Dublin, Ga.

Mid-Atlantic and Up

Winter Storm Warnings are also in effect along the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast Coast, including:

• Virginia Beach
• Norfolk, Va.
• Ocean City
• Salisbury, Md.
• Rehoboth, Del.
• Georgetown, Del.
• Atlantic City, N.J.
• Eastern Long island
• Southeastern Connecticut
• Providence, R.I.
• Newport, R.I.
• Boston
• Gloucester, Mass.

Winter Weather Advisories extend just west across eastern Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey, including:

• St. Mary’s, Md.
• Dover, Del.
• Williamstown, N.J.

Winter Storm Watches also extend northward and contain the entire state of Maine, currently, watches are not in effect for Washington, Philadelphia, and New York.

Earth Networks customers who utilize Sferic Maps will be able to keep up with the National Weather Service’s winter weather warnings in real-time by selecting from a few, new different layers on the left hand side of the application.

Sferic Maps Free Demo

We want your business to be prepared for this storm and for future storm’s down the line. That’s why were offering a limited time free demo on out weather visualization software, Sferic Maps. To get your free demo and track this ‘bomb cyclone,’ click the button below. Never let winter weather surprise you again.