Bomb Cyclone in the US: What is a snow squall?

The central part of the United States was hit by a massive winter storm which is expected to turn into a bomb cyclone on Friday.

The central United States is facing extremely cold weather with strong winds and heavy snowfall due to a winter storm on Thursday December 22, 2022 which is leading to dangerous conditions.

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The reports by the National Weather Service suggested that the storm is anticipated to “produce widespread disruptive and potentially crippling impacts across the central and eastern United States.”

The storm is causing wind chills due to the sudden fall in temperatures in many parts of the country. The temperature is dropping by thirty degrees or more in a few hours which can result in a bomb cyclone by Friday, December 23, 2022, by making a landfall over the Great lakes.

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Many cities in the United States were also issued snow squall warnings on Thursday. The areas with the warning were The Wichita in Kansas, Bartlesville city of Oklahoma and Rapid City in South Dakota. A snow squall is a condition of sudden whiteout which makes it narrow down the visibility. They are basically intense snow bursts that last for very short durations, usually less than an hour, disrupting normal life in those periods. This condition of strong winds and low visibility leads to traffic accidents.

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On the other hand, a bomb cyclone is basically a massive storm that intensifies rapidly. Mostly in a bomb cyclone, the pressure must fall by around 24 millibars within 24 hours. But the storm’s latitude also results in the fluctuation of the millibar.

Because of the extreme winter storm in the States, hundreds and thousands of flights have been cancelled. Almost 115 million people across eight states are under winter alerts and heavy storm warnings ahead of the Christmas holiday.