Do travel plans take you to New England this weekend? Keep an eye on the weather forecast, as a nor’easter will bring gusty winds and snow to the Mid-Atlantic and into the Northeast.
What is a Nor’easter?
The American Meteorological Society defines a nor’easter as “a cyclonic storm of the east coast of North America, so called because the winds over the coastal area are from the northeast.”
This weekend’s nor’easter is expected to develop off the Carolina coast and travel north, potentially impacting Washington D.C., Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston.
‘Bomb Cyclone’ of a Nor’easter
This nor’Easter is also forecast to undergo bombogenesis, which is a rapid strengthening of the storm -- the technical/meteorological definition is a drop of 24+ millibars within 24 hours, and this one will do just so.
It drops 44 millibars between Friday night (00z Saturday) and Saturday night (00z Sunday) as it moves up the Eastern Seaboard, and it drops further near New England.
In the animation below, notice how the red L goes from 1005 to 961 within 24 hours -- that’s bombogenesis.
And of course, this is a midlatitude cyclone undergoing bombogenesis, making it a headline favorite: a bomb cyclone!
How the Nor’easter will affect Metro Atlanta’s weather this weekend
Air flows counterclockwise around an area of low pressure. As a result, warm and humid air is pulled northward, while bitterly cold and dry air is pulled southward.
In the Southeast, dry air has taken hold of the region, which means the Arctic air will not have much moisture to work with this far South. The system may bring a few flurries to the North Georgia mountains on Friday afternoon, otherwise little to no precipitation for us in Metro Atlanta.
However, it will pull Arctic air into our region. We’ll feel it on Saturday morning when we wake up to temperatures in the low 20s, and with a stiff northwest wind gusting 25 mph, wind chills will drop into the single digits to low teens on Saturday morning! This is expected be the coldest air of the season -- colder than the 26 degrees registered at the Atlanta Airport on January 23.
Sunshine will return Saturday afternoon, but it is no match for the Arctic wind -- temperatures will be limited to the 30s, with wind chills in the 20s!
Other than that -- little to no impacts for us, so I am comfortable in saying “Enjoy this fun fact!!”
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