GOES-East Captures East Coast 'Bomb Cyclone'

NOAA's GOES-East satellite caught a dramatic view of the bomb cyclone moving up the East Coast on the morning of January 4, 2018. The powerful nor'easter is battering coastal areas with heavy snow and strong winds, from Florida to Maine. Notice the long line of clouds stretching over a thousand miles south of the storm. This beast is drawing moisture all the way from deep in the Caribbean. Why is it called a "bomb cyclone"? The term is less scary than it sounds, but has a scientific basis. Meteorologists say that a storm undergoes "bombogenesis" when it rapidly intensifies over a short period. More precisely, it's a mid-latitude cyclone that sees its central pressure drop 24 millibars or more within 24 hours. Storms like this typically bring heavy precipitation, strong winds, and coastal storm surge and are common along the East Coast during the winter months.