(The Economic Collapse Blog)—The blizzard that hit the Northeast on Monday looked like it could have been pulled directly out of a Hollywood disaster movie. Everyone knew that it was going to be bad, but it turned out to be significantly worse than most of the experts were projecting. Multiple states have recorded more than 2 feet of snow. Multiple states have recorded hurricane-force winds.
I have frequently written about how global weather patterns have been going completely nuts, and this is yet another example. The Northeast has just been hit by one of the worst blizzards in history, and the snow is still falling in many areas.
The reason why this storm turned out to be so powerful is because it intensified extremely fast just before it struck. The central pressure of the storm fell by 40 millibars in just 24 hours, and Accuweather is telling us that this represents “a dramatic drop that is even rare for powerful hurricanes”…
A bomb cyclone is a storm that strengthens extremely fast, and this nor’easter did exactly that along the Northeast coast from Sunday into Monday. The air pressure at the center of the storm plunged as it intensified. A storm earns “bomb cyclone” status when its central pressure drops at least 24 millibars (0.71 of an inch of mercury) in 24 hours. The nor’easter reached this benchmark in just 18 hours, with the pressure hitting the bomb cyclone threshold at 1 a.m. EST Monday — and it didn’t start there.
Over a 24-hour stretch, the pressure fell 40 millibars (1.18 inches of mercury), a dramatic drop that is even rare for powerful hurricanes.
From space, this blizzard closely resembled a hurricane to many people.
But it wasn’t a hurricane.
It was considered to be a “bomb cyclone”, and CNN is reporting that at least 2 feet of snow has fallen in at least five states…
• Whiteout conditions ongoing: A high-impact bomb cyclone is slamming the Northeast with powerful winds and extreme snowfall rates, knocking out power and making travel impossible. Thirty million people are under blizzard warnings.
• Snow piling up: More than 30 inches of snow has fallen so far, with 2 feet reported in at least five states. It’s the biggest snowstorm on record for Providence, Rhode Island, and in years for New York City and Philadelphia … and snow is still falling.
• Northeast shut down: Treacherous conditions paused public transit, forced travel bans and prompted warnings to stay off roads. More than 10,000 flights have been canceled, according to FlightAware.
Snow was falling at a rate of at least two inches an hour in much of the region.
That would be bad enough.
What made conditions far worse were the howling, hurricane-force winds which never seemed to stop…
Winds gusted to 83 mph at Nantucket, with 77 mph at Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Gusts to 74 mph were recorded at Gosnold, Massachusetts , and Kingstown, Rhode Island. As of noon, 657,000 customers were without power after the high winds, with 284,000 of those in Massachusetts, according to PowerOutage.US.
A 58-year-old man named George Englis tried to get some sleep inside his Massachusetts home last night, but it was a real struggle.
According to him, the high winds were so powerful that he “could literally feel it pushing up against the house”…
Last night, while George Englis was trying to sleep in his Rockport, Mass., home, the wind kept gusting. “It was almost like a whirling sound,” said Englis, 58. “You could literally feel it pushing up against the house,” he said, adding, “This wasn’t even a hurricane.”
This was clearly one of the worst blizzards in the entire history of the Northeast.
In Providence, the old record for the largest single snowfall on record was obliterated…
Providence, Rhode Island, received 32.8 inches of snow by 1 p.m. Monday at T.F. Greene International Airport, shattering the city’s previous 1-day snowfall record.
The old record of 28.6 inches was set in 1978 during the city’s largest single snowstorm on record.
The final snowfall total is not yet in, as snow continues to fall across New England through Monday afternoon.
Rhode Island isn’t supposed to get that much snow.
What in the world is going on out there?
In New York City, about 20 inches of snow fell, and that easily puts it on the top 10 list of all-time storms…
The snow was still falling rapidly, and thanks to travel restrictions, few, if any, vehicles were on the road. The landscape was transformed, blanketed in white, with tree branches, awnings and fire escapes outlined in ivory.
As of 1:30 p.m. Monday, 19.7 inches of snow had been recorded in Central Park, making it a top 10 snowstorm for the city, with records dating back to 1869. The blizzard comes in ninth, ahead of the 19 inches that fell in January 2011, and the snowfall so far was half a foot short of the highest amounts recorded during a blizzard in 2016, which reached 27.5 inches. But snow was still falling, and it could pile up further before the next totals come in after 7 p.m.
Kids in New York City enjoyed their first full snow day since 2019.
But apparently they will be going back to school tomorrow.
Interestingly, at one point during the storm residents of New York City actually got to experience a phenomenon that is quite rare…
As snowfall intensified in New York City on Sunday night, one resident captured a rare sight on video: thundersnow.
Thundersnow happens when a snowstorm produces lightning and thunder. It’s uncommon in nor’easters, but it can strike when a storm is strengthening quickly and snowfall is intense enough to build the kind of towering clouds needed for lightning. It’s seen more often in heavy bands of lake-effect snow and in snow showers over the Rocky Mountains.
A long, long time ago, I got to personally witness thundersnow.
It is an experience that you will never forget.
As I write this article, the blizzard is far from over.
In fact, snow is expected to continue falling in some parts of New England through Tuesday morning.
Needless to say, this storm has caused power failures and travel disruptions all over the region.
Traveling by vehicle is nearly impossible in many areas, and thousands of flights have already been canceled…
Nearly 5,600 flights in, out, or within the US were cancelled at the start of the week, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.
Travel nightmare for Republic Airways, JetBlue, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and United early Monday morning, with the bulk of the cancellations affecting these airlines.
Sadly, the crazy weather that we have been experiencing this winter is not over.
According to meteorologist Ryan Maue, the Northeast is going to get slammed by several days of historically cold weather in early March…
Nothing that I have shared with you in this article is normal.
We have entered a time when weather patterns have gone completely nuts all over the world.
This latest storm should be another major league wake up call.
You would think that dumping two feet of snow on someone’s head would be enough to get their attention.
Unfortunately, most of the population continues to choose to sleep while global events spiral out of control all around them.
Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.
