#bomb-cyclone

#bomb-cyclone

Snow is falling at the rate of 1 inch per hour or more along the East Coast from New England to the Delmarva Peninsula, including Long Island, the New York City tri-state, and New Jersey. This snow has been, at times, accompanied by lightning strikes, especially just offshore of southeast New England near Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Island. Parts of Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut have already picked up over a foot of snow.

But what, exactly, is a blizzard? A blizzard doesn't always mean "a lot of snow," though it can certainly bring heavy snowfalls, as this storm is expected to along parts of the East Coast. Rather, the National Weather Service defines it as a snowstorm with winds regularly above 35 miles per hour and "considerable falling" or blowing snow for at least three hours.

Meteorologists say a powerful coastal system fueled by a so-called "bomb cyclone" could move toward the Northeast this weekend, bringing anything from a light dusting to a full-on sequel to January's snow chaos . The system is expected to travel across the country before strengthening off the Carolina coast on Sunday, potentially delivering snow and gusty winds to the tri-state area into Monday.

While cold-stunned iguanas fall from trees in Florida and videos circulate of frozen "exploding" trees in the Northeast, Southern California is working up a sweat. A midwinter heat wave has descended on much of the state and is expected to spike temperatures as much as 20 degrees above normal in the coming week. The summer-like heat is thanks to a ridge of high pressure lingering high in the atmosphere that extends through the San Francisco Bay Area and into the Pacific Northwest.

Hundreds of students at multiple East Bay high schools staged a walkout Wednesday in protest of ICE. The students assembled in a parking lot in San Leandro around 10 am this morning. [KTVU] The developer behind the Bishop Ranch complex in San Ramon has revealed plans for 8.400 new homes to be built thaere, following the departure of Chevron from its offices. [Chronicle]

According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, certain storms undergo bombogenesis, which happens when a storm's central pressure drops at least 24 millibars in 24 hours. These storms are sometimes called bomb cyclones. Storm intensity is measured by central pressure, so the lower the pressure, the stronger the storm. Such rapidly strengthening storms are capable of producing heavy rain, blizzard conditions and intense winds that can create dangerous conditions such as downed trees and power outages.