High Wind, Blizzard Warnings issued as 'bomb cyclone' arrives in PNW
A so-called "bomb cyclone" arrives in the Northwest Tuesday, but what does that mean? You've no doubt heard the term bandied online in the last few days, as it started trending on social media over the weekend.
A "bomb cyclone" is nothing new--we've documented the passing of similar storms here for decades. The term, referring to "an area of low pressure that drops at least 24 millibars in 24 hours," was originally used in an academic paper and presentation in the 1970s. However, it became part of the general lexicon after getting "hash-tagged" in recent years on Twitter and Facebook.
Chief Meteorologist Shannon O'Donnell calls terms like polar vortices, heat domes, and bomb cyclones the "avocado toast of the weather world." In other words, they were always a thing, but a few selfies and a trending hashtag later, and suddenly they are a THING!
Nonetheless, we have a bomb cyclone on our PNW doorstep. This little area of low pressure has rapidly intensified into a very deep area of low pressure over the Pacific and then will approach the Washington coastline by Tuesday afternoon.
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Shannon O'Donnell George Waldenberger
Keep in mind that areas of low-pressure act like giant vacuums in the sky, pulling air into them as quickly as they can. The deeper the low, the stronger the pull, and as this one strengthens to a very impressive 949 millibar storm offshore by Tuesday afternoon. A low this deep will pull air into it to the tune of 40 to 65 mph or more, so those of you along the coastline will experience easterly wind gusts to that magnitude. Some of the coastal headlands might gust to over 70 mph.
Much of Puget Sound will thank the Olympics for blocking the bulk of the wind near the I-5 corridor, but communities near the Cascade foothills won't be as lucky.
Air rushing over the passes will zig and zag through the gaps in the terrain, picking up speed through the tight spaces a la the Bernoulli Effect. As that air reaches the bottom of the hills and has the freedom to spread out, it will do so...with gusts projected to max out between 40 and 65 mph in foothill communities like North Bend, Maple Valley, Enumclaw, and Sultan.
A High Wind Warning is in effect until 4 a.m. Wednesday both for the Washington coast and for the east Puget Sound lowlands, as the east side of Pierce, King, and Snohomish Counties will likely experience the worst of the winds. Easterly gap gusts like this are called "Cascadia winds," and when they blow to this extreme, widespread tree damage and power outages are likely.
Those closer to the shoreline in Puget Sound are under a less severe Wind Advisory, although southeasterly winds could still top out between 40 and 50 mph in places like Federal Way or Edmonds.
Up in the mountains, the howling winds plus incoming precipitation will combine to bring on white-out conditions due to heavy, blowing snow. As such, a rare Blizzard Warning has been issued above 2,000' in the Cascades on Tuesday and Wednesday. Pass travel will be difficult to dangerous at times over the next 48 hours.
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