Two
bomb cyclones and
atmospheric rivers in one week? It may seem hard to believe, but Mother Nature has the gloves off and will continue to hurl potent storms with gusty winds, big rain and high country snow toward the Pacific Coast states through this weekend,
AccuWeather meteorologists warn.
The next
bomb cyclone from later Thursday to Friday will not be as intense as Tuesday's powerhouse storm. The powerful storm will make more of a glancing blow from south to north just off the coasts of Northern California, Oregon and Washington, but it will still be close enough and strong enough to bring impacts from wind, rain and snow. :
A
bomb cyclone is a storm that strengthens so fast that the central atmospheric pressure plunges 0.71 of an inch (24 millibars) or more in 24 hours or less. The central pressure in Tuesday's bomb cyclone fell a whopping 1.71 inches (58 mb), or more than double the intensity criteria. The "bombing out," or rapid intensification, is important because the faster the pressure drops in a storm, the faster new air must rush in to take the missing air's place. This movement of air is the wind.
Strong winds from
Tuesday night's intense storm knocked down a tree that killed one woman and cut the power to 600,000 utility customers in western Washington alone.
"The track of the new bomb cyclone will be such as to direct the strongest winds right along the coasts of Washington and northern Oregon, rather than throughout the Interstate 5 corridor and Cascades," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Houk said.
Keep those Fingers Crossed...
enjoying the blue sky while we can
