Urgent warning to eight US states as bomb cyclone expected to bring hurricane-like conditions
An urgent weather warning has been issued for eight states on the east coast, where a bomb cyclone is expected to bring hurricane conditions to the region.
Meteorologists predict states from Maine to New York will experience the worst impacts, with dangerous flooding and widespread power outages expected to begin Wednesday evening.
A bomb cyclone is a meteorological term for a storm between the tropics and the Arctic that rapidly increases in strength within a 24-hour period and often causes significant damage.
This super-charged storm will bring wind gusts of up to 100 kilometers per hour, as well as heavy rainfall of 20 centimeters in places, which will be enhanced by an atmospheric river stretching 3,000 kilometers along the coast.
An atmospheric river is a long and narrow region in the atmosphere that transports heat and moisture from the tropics to the Earth’s poles.
The East Coast has been hit with unusually high temperatures this week, with New York City topping 61 degrees on Wednesday, 30 degrees above the December average.
“The impactful nature of the storm in coastal areas of the Northeast will resemble a strong tropical storm or hurricane,” AccuWeather meteorologists said.
According to AccuWeather, the densely populated urban areas of Philadelphia, New York City, Boston, Providence, Rhode Island and Hartford, Connecticut could experience significant urban flooding and small streams.
“The risk of significant flooding will be further increased in the higher elevations of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine where there is significant snowpack of several inches on the ground,” AccuWeather meteorologist Jonathan Porter warned.
Five states prepare for dangerous flooding and power outages as an atmospheric river and a developing bomb cyclone hit the East Coast
Meteorologists predict states from Maine to New York will experience the worst impacts, with dangerous flooding and widespread power outages expected to begin Wednesday evening.
That’s because rapidly melting snow can add 1 to 2 inches of water to storm runoff, and rapidly rising water can cause “life-threatening” flooding, he added.
The National Weather Service (NWS) also issued a high wind warning Wednesday for Long Island, New York and the Connecticut coast from noon to 10 p.m. ET, with sustained winds of 25 to 35 mph and expected gusts up to 100 km per hour.
The agency has issued the alert in parts of Maine from 7:00 PM ET on Wednesday until 6:00 AM ET on Thursday, as well as throughout eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island from 3:00 PM this afternoon until 1:00 AM ET tomorrow.
“Damaging winds will blow down trees and power lines. Large-scale power outages are expected. Travel will be difficult, especially for high-profile vehicles,” NWS officials stated.
“Stay on the lower levels of your home during the storm and avoid windows. Watch for falling debris and tree branches. Be careful if you have to drive.”
The early stages of this storm have already lashed parts of the southeastern US with heavy rain on Monday and Tuesday, even prompting tornado warnings, according to AccuWeather.
The rain spread northward Tuesday night into the central Appalachians, the mid-Atlantic and southern New England.
Together, the two weather systems are expected to dump a total of eight inches of rain across the Northeast and six inches in the Southeast.
The atmospheric river and potential bomb cyclone are expected to dump a total of eight inches of rain in the Northeast and six inches of rain in the Southeast.
The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued high wind warnings for Long Island, New York, coastal Connecticut, parts of Maine, eastern Massachusetts and all of Rhode Island.
Some states are already preparing for very bad weather.
In Maine, some schools postponed their opening Tuesday after several inches of snow accumulated earlier in the day.
The western part of the state is bracing for freezing rain, downpours, unusually high temperatures and damaging winds, all expected to hit within a day, said Derek Schroeter, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine.
“We’re looking at the risk of slippery travel (Tuesday evening) with the freezing rain,” Schroeter said, “and we’re going to watch for the possibility of flash flooding and sharp rises in streams as temperatures rise into the 50s. ‘
The state of Vermont is under a flood watch from Wednesday afternoon through Thursday morning.
The atmospheric river – a 3,000-kilometre-long stretch of water vapor stretching all the way from the northeastern US to the Caribbean Sea – will intensify the storm’s rainfall
This unique storm event comes just weeks after a similar event in November rocked the West Coast and caused extensive damage in western Washington
A pickup truck was completely crushed by a falling tree in Sudden Valley, as seen in this image shared to Facebook in November
The state capital, Montpelier, told residents to brace for mild flooding in the area and advised moving items in basements and other low areas.
The city “will be actively monitoring river levels as this storm passes,” officials stated.
In New Hampshire, the Mount Washington Avalanche Center issued a special bulletin Wednesday for the Presidential Range of Mountains, which has seen significant snowfall over the past two weeks.
“Heavy rainfall can cause dangerous and unpredictable avalanche conditions on steep, snow-covered slopes,” the report said, creating unsafe conditions at stream crossings, ski and hiking trails and bridges.
This unique storm event comes just weeks after a similar event rocked the West Coast in November.
An atmospheric river and bomb cyclone killed two people and caused widespread power outages, flooding and wind damage in the northwestern US. .