A mix of snow, ice, rain and strong winds swept across much of the US amid intense cyclone warnings. A winter storm triggered by the impact of a ‘bomb cyclone’ is expected to hit the upper US.
Heavy snow, blizzards, extreme cold and damaging winds are likely to create dangerous conditions stretching from Montana east to Maine and north from Texas to Pennsylvania, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
US Weather Bulletin: “Bomb Cyclone”
The NWS said in its December 28 report that an intense cyclone will take center stage over the next 48 hours. After the wintry weather, an Arctic front colliding with warm air could rapidly intensify into a “bomb cyclone” over the Midwest and Great Lakes by Monday, according to NPR.
A “bomb cyclone,” or bombogenesis, is a rapidly deepening area of low pressure that creates severe weather conditions, the report added.
“A low pressure system is rapidly developing over the Mid-Mississippi Valley along the Arctic front as incoming cold air from Canada mixes with an anomalously warm air mass settling over the central/southern US for many days,” it added.
A major storm in the Great Lakes will slowly move into eastern Canada later Monday. “But the system’s massive circulation will continue to spread very strong and gusty winds across the eastern US with snow persisting especially downwind of the lower Great Lakes,” it added.
“Showers should weaken or end as light snow in Maine Tuesday morning behind a cold front,” the NWS said.
Impacts could range from heavy snow and blizzards across the upper Midwest to the Great Lakes, to freezing rain in New England, thunderstorms across the eastern US and South, as well as widespread gusty winds to locally damaging winds in those areas.
Blizzard, snow, rain are expected
The NWS said in its weather bulletin that as a low pressure system accelerates to the Northeast this week, heavy snow and blizzard conditions will continue across the upper Midwest and Great Lakes into Monday.
“A mix of sleet and freezing rain will likely affect northern New England by Monday morning before warmer air changes the wintry mix to all rain later Monday,” the NWS said.
Windy rain and embedded thunderstorms are forecast to turn into a blowing snow blizzard across the central Great Lakes region early Monday, he added.
“Snowfall amounts are expected to exceed one foot across the upper Great Lakes, particularly along the southern shore of Lake Superior, where two feet of snow may fall along with whiteout conditions at the height of the storm,” the NWS said.
An Arctic cold front barreling south was expected to bring a drastic end to the warming on Sunday, as a quick round of severe thunderstorms signaled the arrival of a “blue north”.
