Bomb cyclone. That's a term being tossed around regarding the winter storm that is taking shape this morning. A low pressure center is taking shape at the surface near the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Meanwhile, a potent upper level low is spiraling over the Great Lakes region, on its way south and east. When the latter system meets up with the surface low the storm will rapidly intensify, supercharged with extra energy. The result will be a strong nor'easter:
Mecklenburg County will mostly escape the wrath of this system, while the northern Mid-Atlantic and New England states will not. Locally, today - Sunday - will feature cloudy skies, rain changing to snow late this afternoon, and temperatures not budging much from this morning's low 40s. Winds will gust up to 20 mph on the back side of the storm as it traverses northward off the East Coast.
The flakes will continue until just after midnight, but only light accumulations (perhaps up to an inch) will be on grassy surfaces. Flakes will melt on relatively warm road and sidewalk surfaces, and overnight temperatures only dropping to 30ยบ won't overcome that residual warmth. As the precipitation ends skies will gradually clear, becoming partly sunny by dawn Monday.
Tomorrow and Tuesday will feel more like January than almost March, with afternoon highs only topping out in the mid- to upper 40s. Monday will also be blustery as the nor'easter intensifies. Northwesterly winds will gust over 25 mph much of tomorrow, providing a wind chill factor several degrees below the actual air temperatures. The rest of the work week looks to warm back to late February averages, with rain expected Thursday.
Blogposts may be intermittent this week, with Wednesday being the next one to expect.
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