AP Photo/Michael Dwyer
- A winter storm, described as a “bomb cyclone,” is lashing the Northeast, bringing floods, frigid temperatures, and snow to cities across the region.
- The storm’s central pressure is expected to drop to about 950 millibars, which is equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane.
- After the storm, the area is expected to be slapped with an Arctic air mass on Saturday to plunge temperatures to below zero in New York City.
A winter storm described as a ‘bomb cyclone‘ slammed into New York, New Jersey, and much of southern New England on Thursday morning, bringing lots of snow, wind, flooding and frigid temperatures.
The storm, which is working it’s way up the East Coast, is sitting just off the coastline of New Jersey and Long Island as of early Thursday afternoon. And the storm has rapidly intensified, dumping inches of snow in New York City and causing widespread flooding in Eastern Massachusetts, with widespread road and airport closures throughout the region.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a travel advisory across New York City, Long Island, and Westchester until 4 p.m., while New York City mayor Bill de Blasio warned residents to stay off the roads as conditions worsen throughout the day. On Thursday afternoon, de Blasio declared a winter weather emergency for all of the city’s five boroughs.
Based on current forecasts, the storm is expected to deliver up to 10 inches of snow in New York City, with gusts of up to 60 miles-per-hour creating blizzard conditions. Parts of Long Island are expected to receive up to a foot of snow.
But Boston has it even worse. A huge storm surge has flooded parts of the city and a number of towns on the coast of Massachusetts. Boston is experiencing the highest tide since 1921, according to The National Weather Service. And 76 mile-per-hour gusts were recorded off the coast of Nantucket, close to the storm’s epicenter.
What is a ‘bomb cyclone’?
This isn’t hyperbole — a “weather bomb,” or “bombogenesis,” is the term used by meteorologists for this kind of storm system. The phenomenon gets this ominous label when the central pressure of a low-pressure system drops at least 24 millibars (a unit for measuring atmospheric pressure) within 24 hours.
Bombogenesis occurs when cold, continental air masses meet warm, moisture-rich oceanic air. That can create high winds and heavy precipitation, according to The Weather Channel.
AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
The storm working its way up the East Coast is expected to exceed the standard bombogenesis rate by several millibars and drop to a minimum pressure of about 950 millibars — equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane. (Hurricane Sandy, which devastated New York City and the New Jersey coast in 2012, had a minimum pressure of 946 millibars when it made landfall.)
The bomb cyclone as of Thursday afternoon is down to 951 millibars, strengthening 59 millibars in 24 hours, according to The National Weather Service. It’s likely the strongest winter storm to hit the East Coast in decades.
Meteorologists consider air pressure to be a measure of a storm’s intensity, meaning this could be one of the strongest winter storms ever to hit the East Coast — at least on record.
This GIF shows the projected pressure lows off the coast of New York and New England on Thursday afternoon, based on current models from the interactive forecast site Windy:
Current models show the storm creeping up the East Coast, bringing high winds, heavy snowfall, and the potential for coastal flooding. It’s expected to dump 3 inches of snow on Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Tuesday evening — a phenomenon not seen since 2010.
Even Jacksonville, Florida, is expected to see some snowfall on Wednesday, while Charleston, South Carolina, could see snow and over an inch of ice accumulation on the roads.
By Thursday, if the storm track holds, a combination of heavy snowfall and high winds will create blizzard conditions that could dump over a foot of snow in much of southern New England, Virginia, Delaware, and Maryland, according to Mashable’s Andrew Freedman.
This shows the projected wind circulation on Thursday afternoon:
After the snow, a deep freeze
New Yorkers — who just lived through one of the most frigid New Year’s Eves of the past century — may also see blizzard-like conditions if the storm shifts about 50 miles west.
Following the storm, temperatures are expected to plunge precipitously.
An Arctic air mass over Canada’s Hudson Bay creeping south, drawn in by the massive air circulation in the storm’s wake, could bring temperatures in New York City to the single digits this weekend and well below zero on Saturday evening.
Though it may seem counterintuitive, New Yorkers should hope for heavy snowfall.
Gary Szatkowski, a meteorologist, explained on Twitter that even a couple of inches of snow can serve as infrastructure insulation, protecting water pipes and subway tracks from extreme cold. Without that snow, water pipes can freeze or burst, which could then knock out power and create a cascade of damage that would make commutes (not to mention life in general) a bit miserable.
Despite what President Donald Trump has claimed on Twitter, winter storms — just like hurricanes and heat waves — can be made more severe by climate change. As the White House and Congress gear up to take on infrastructure this year, that’s probably a threat they should keep in mind.
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