Snowing, Windy, Pumping And Oh So Cold! Maine, Yesterday

Yesterday the United States’ right coast held the most unattractive weather.

Winter Storm Greyson slammed the shores. A ‘bomb cyclone,’ they called it. Which, at first seemed like a neat media term to stir anxieties. The term ‘bomb cyclone’ comes from ‘bombogenesis.’ According to the New York Times, here’s how it works:

Deep drops in barometric pressure occur when a region of warm air meets one of cold air. The air starts to move, and the rotation of the Earth creates a cyclonic effect. The direction is counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere (when viewed from above), leading to winds that come out of the northeast — a nor’easter. By definition the barometric pressure must drop by at least 24 millibars in 24 hours for a storm to be called a bomb cyclone; the formation of such a storm is called bombogenesis.

“Honestly, this is pretty typical winter storm,” photog Nick LaVecchia tells Stab. “Nothing crazy for this time of year. It’s just the weather channel and media hyping it all up. When this was taken the swell was peaking at 25’ with howling offshores. A couple days ago, super high tides and a full moon flooded all the roads.”