Most Americans are battling bone-chilling temperatures, blizzard conditions of snow falling, blackouts and strong winds, cancelling holiday outings, as the bomb cyclone, the weather phenomenon, approaches a large area of the country. According to a media report, around 1.4 million homes are badly jolted by the bomb cyclone. The storm can destroy lives and property if it zooms past heavily populated areas.
The extreme weather caused a humanitarian crisis in many cities facing an influx of migrants who have crossed the US southern border. Their plight has made local agencies scramble to get people off the streets as the arctic blast arrived, reported Reuters. The daily routines and holiday plans of American people were disrupted just days before Christmas.
What is a bomb cyclone?
A bomb cyclone, as scientists explain, is a meteorological phenomenon which is caused by a collision of warm and cold air that develops into a rotating storm-like pattern, leading to an explosive deepening of pressure.
According to a media report, citing a 2021 study between 1979 and 2019, only 7% of the winter storms that appeared in North America were bomb cyclones.
During winters, bomb cyclones mostly develop over the ocean or off the coast. While it appears, the pressure of the atmosphere at its centre starts dropping swiftly. This process, according to scientists, is called explosive cyclogenesis. The rapid drop in the atmospheric pressure is accompanied by gusty winds that lead to extreme weather including heavy snowfall, strong winds and thunderstorms.
Bomb cyclones generally develop in the winter season, but they could take place in the winter season as well. Bomb cyclones could be extremely dangerous as they sabotage human lives and infrastructure.
Disrupting the daily lives
Energy prices increased exponentially as the extreme weather forced energy production cuts and bone-chilling cold drove demand higher. Severe winds, ice and snow disrupted commercial air traffic during one of the busiest travel periods in the face of Christmas and New Year celebrations.
Around 5,200 US flights were canceled on Friday, reported Reuters. More than 700 flights into or out of Seattle’s major airport were cancelled as a separate storm system brought ice and freezing rain to the Pacific Northwest.
The American Automobile Association (AAA) had estimated that 112.7 million people planned to travel 50 miles (80 km) or more from home between Friday and January 2. That number could decrease owing to inclement weather complicating air and road travel going into the weekend.