Bomb Cyclone and Atmospheric River Bringing Impacts to East Coast

A bomb cyclone is coming together to pair with an atmospheric river, bringing significant moisture to nearly the entirety of the eastern U.S. While forecasters had been predicting the development of a major storm system by the middle of the week, the bomb cyclone formed seemingly out of nowhere. Here is the latest on this stormy forecast.

Developing Bomb Cyclone Taking Aim at East Coast

A firehose of moisture is going to unleash across the eastern third of the nation through Wednesday night. In addition to flooding rainfall, the system will bring in high winds and the chance of wintry precipitation for the higher terrains. Residents should expect major travel disruptions as a result of this rapidly developing bomb cyclone.

The budding bomb cyclone is already moving to the north, taking aim at the mid-Atlantic, the Northeast, and New England. Travelers should prepare for delays both in the air and on the roads until at least early Thursday as the storm moves to the north from the Gulf of Mexico and into Canada.

The central pressure readings of the system will continue to drop, producing a vacuum that allows the high winds to rush into the impacted area. A bomb cyclone is defined as a storm with central pressure that plunges 0.71 of an inch in a period of 24 hours or less. This process is known as bombogenesis, producing what meteorologists call a bomb cyclone.

The storm got started on Tuesday with heavy rain and thunderstorms impacting a zone from Louisiana and into Georgia to start the day. Some of the storm cells were severe enough to prompt tornado warnings. This line of storms impacted a number of major metropolitan areas in the Southeast, including Atlanta and Charlotte.

The weather maker intensified late Tuesday as it moved to the north and into the central Appalachians and the mid-Atlantic. Forecasters believe that the storm will reorganize once it reaches the upper mid-Atlantic coast on Wednesday, likely becoming a bomb cyclone at some point. The result will be heavy rain for the Appalachians and over into the Eastern Seaboard through late Wednesday.

Diving Into the Impacts of the Major Storm System