A significant bomb cyclone storm is set to hit the Pacific United States throughout the week, particularly the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California. A ‘bomb cyclone’ refers to a storm that considerably drops in pressure, specifically 24 millibars in just 24 hours. However, this oncoming storm is expected surpass this bar by quite a large margin. Heavy rain and snow is projected to pelt the northwestern US throughout the middle of November 2024.
How long will the bomb cyclone impact the western US states?
The bomb cyclone storm is expected to hit the Pacific United States late on Tuesday, November 19, and continue to impact the region until Friday morning, November 22. That said, these are early projections, so it’s possible that the area will feel the effects of the bomb cyclone earlier, especially in terms of high winds, and the storm might linger longer than usual.
As explained by weather expert Max Schuster, better known as Max Velocity on YouTube, the bomb cyclone will astoundingly drop by more than an expected 50 millibars in 24 hours, from 998 mb on Tuesday to 942 mb on Wednesday. He compares this low pressure to a Category 4 hurricane, though not with winds as strong as that type of storm.
That said, Accuweather still believes that the Pacific coast can still expect gusts of 90 mph on Tuesday, which is near a Category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind scale.
This bomb cyclone is being fueled by an atmospheric river coming from the Pacific that is adding moisture to the low-pressure system, causing torrential rain and raised levels of snowfall at high elevations in the region.
An analysis by The Weather Channel projects that areas from Northern California near the Bay Area into southwest Oregon will receive between 8 to 15 inches of rain. Elsewhere, other areas in the northwestern US will get anywhere from 8 inches or less of rain and snow from Tuesday to Friday.
Meanwhile, another low-pressure system over the Great Lakes is expected to pelt the northeastern US with snow and rain around the same time.
