Winter’s harsh hold on the eastern U.S. shows no sign of easing up, with “dangerously cold temperatures” expected to persist, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
The agency also said another powerful winter storm is threatening the Atlantic coast after a majority of the nation was just pounded by heavy snow and freezing rain.
Meteorologists are watching what could become a “bomb cyclone,” which is also known as a bombogenesis, forming off the Carolinas Friday night into Saturday.
The storm could dump snow — at least 6 inches with white-out conditions — in the Carolinas, northern Georgia and southern Virginia.
After that, it could turn and plow through the Interstate 95 corridor late Saturday into Sunday to dump loads more snow from Washington to Boston, further paralyzing much of the country.
Or it could deliver a glancing blow, mostly striking places like Cape Cod.
Alternatively, it could just veer off harmlessly to sea. Meteorologists and forecast models aren’t yet settling on a single outcome.
NWS said a bomb cyclone occurs when a midlatitude cyclone rapidly intensifies during a 24-hour period. The agency said it can happen when a cold air mass collides with a warm air mass, such as air over warm ocean waters.
“This intensification is represented by a drop in millibars, a measurement of pressure used in meteorology,” NWS said on its website. “The intensification required to classify as ‘bombogenesis’ varies by latitude. At 60 degrees latitude, it is a drop of at least 24 millibars (24 hectopascals) over 24 hours. At the latitude of New York City, the required pressure drop is about 17.8 millibars (17.8 hectopascals) over 24 hours.”
As for the cold temperatures, NWS said the next blast of Arctic air surges south down the Plains, across the Great Lakes and through the Southeast and East.
“This could be longest duration of cold in several decades,” according to NWS. “Forecast models are being closely monitored for potential of another significant winter storm to impact the eastern United States this coming weekend. Confidence in coastal impacts has increased.”
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EDITOR’S NOTE: The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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