Bomb cyclone weather warning for eastern US as arctic blast could pummel states with 50mph winds and blizzard conditions

THE eastern US could be blasted by a bomb cyclone later this week, bringing with it a blizzard with 50mph winds.

An Arctic front is predicted to sweep in toward the East Coast late Friday and last into the weekend.

Fierce winds and plummeting temperatures are due to stretch from the central Appalachians to the interior Northeast.

Significant amounts of snowfall are forecast and blizzard conditions could develop in some areas.

The expected storm is predicted to develop into a fully-fledged cyclone Saturday, as it moves up the Eastern Seaboard.

Wind gusts could vary between 40-50mph in the Mid-Atlantic as well as the Northeast.

Thunderstorms and heavy rainfall are expected to hit some areas.

The cold air moving south from Canada will cause temperatures to plummet, with forecasters saying it could be 15-40 degrees colder than normal in the Rockies, the Plains and the Midwest by Friday morning; the Great Lakes, the Mississippi Valley and the South on Saturday morning; and the East Coast by Sunday morning.

Minneapolis could see temperatures in single figures Friday.

The jet stream will be forced southward later this week as two disturbances, one in the Southwest and another over southern Canada merge over the Midwest, which will drag bitterly-cold air toward the East Coast.

That will leave the way clear for a more robust disturbance to move southeast out of northern Canada Friday, travelling over the Great Lakes and hitting New York, Pennsylvania and New England.

That third disturbance is then expected to merge with the previous two, creating an area of low pressure and the formation of coastal storms along the East Coast.

The low-pressure zone is forecast to strengthen speedily enough to be classified as a “bomb cyclone”.

Hurricane winds could develop over the Atlantic Ocean and Canadian Maritimes.

Widespread gusts are expected to reach more than 40mph, with some localized gusts hitting 50 to 60mph, especially near coastal areas in the Northeast, Saturday.

SNOW

Several inches of snow could fall during the day and night Friday from the higher parts of western North Carolina and the Smoky Mountains through eastern Kentucky, eastern Ohio, West Virginia and western Pennsylvania.

Less severe snowfall could even hit parts of northwest Georgia and northern Alabama and Mississippi, although this is thought to be unlikely.

Temperatures in this are expected to plummet from the 50s on Friday to the teens and 20s by Saturday morning.

THUNDERSTORMS AND RAIN

The cold front will bring rain and possible thunderstorms to the mid-Atlantic Saturday morning.

Those downpours will also bring pockets of gusty winds along the front, with forecasters they are due to hit between 6am to 10am Saturday, affecting the area between Washington and Baltimore.

Parts of Florida, Georgia and the eastern Carolinas could see a small tornado threat emerge Friday night into Saturday.

NORTHEAST HIT HARDEST

The interior Northeast will see the worst of the weather Saturday and could see half a foot of snow fall.

Northeast Pennsylvania through much of interior New York, Vermont, northern New Hampshire and inland Maine are likely to suffer the brunt of it.

Although, no accurate snowfall forecasts have been made yet.

Wind gusts could easily reach 40mph and blizzard conditions could develop.

The storm though, is expected to be fast-moving and so won’t last long, with rain quickly tapering off Saturday night.