Extreme Weather 2019: Bomb Cyclone Expected To Hammer Mid-Atlantic And Northeastern US

The northeastern U.S. could see the rest of the week dominated by a bomb cyclone forming off the coast.

The National Weather Service picked up on the pressure system forming off the coast of the northeast U.S. Wednesday morning. It was expected to begin a sharply dropping in pressure, forming into a bomb cyclone that would hammer mid-Atlantic and northeastern states through the end of the week. It’s also expected to be as strong as the storm front that hit the same area on Friday.

“High pressure just offshore will provide dry weather this morning,” said the National Weather Service branch in Boston. “However a powerful coastal storm develops along the NJ coast late today and then moves northeast up the I-95 corridor of CT, RI and MA tonight into Thursday.”

A bomb cyclone forms as a storm front experiences a rapid drop of 24 millibars within 24 hours. The front currently being tracked was expected to drop 30 millibars starting Wednesday.

“The system will have the equivalent low pressure of a Category 1 hurricane,” meteorologist Dave Hennen told CNN.

Coastal areas of New York, Massachusetts and Maine are expected to face tropical storm strength winds starting late Wednesday. Gusts are forecasted to reach over 60 mph in some areas, possibly bringing down trees and power lines. There is also concern the winds could impact end of week travel, with flights out of New England possibly being delayed.

Heavy rain is also expected for most areas, with current forecasts predicting 2-4 inches of rain, though some could get as much as 6 inches. The rain is expected to last most of Thursday before starting to clear throughout Friday.

Some areas of upstate New York could even see some snowfall as a result of the storm.