March 1, 2018

The East Coast Is Bracing for Yet Another Bomb Cyclone

Its name is Riley.

A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite captured a deepening storm off the East coast of the United States on Jan. 4, 2018.NOAA

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

The infamous bomb cyclone may be back. Winter Storm Riley, set to slam into the East Coast this weekend, is predicted to be the most powerful storm since January’s bomb cyclone—bringing hurricane-strength winds, heavy snow, torrential rain, and coastal flooding. 

“Remember Jan. 4th?” the National Weather Service in Boston warned. “This storm has the potential of being worse!” 

The storm will begin to develop Thursday evening with heavy winds up and down the seaboard. Pressure in the atmosphere off the Atlantic coast may suddenly plummet Friday evening, according to several forecasts. This could trigger “bombogenesis,” when a mid-latitude cyclone rapidly intensifies and drops atmospheric pressure drastically—at least 24 millibars over 24 hours.

The Weather Channel says high wind watches and warnings are in effect from Maine to the southern Appalachians, including “virtually the entire I-95 urban corridor from Boston to Washington DC.” Some airlines are already waving change fees for flights along the East Coast.

The East Coast might not have much time to recover after Winter Storm Riley. “Unfortunately, there is increasing potential for another major coastal storm by the middle of next week,” the Weather Channel told USA Today

WE'LL BE BLUNT:

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate