snow storm

snow storm

Winter has been here for a while now.  Especially if you live in the eastern part of the United States.  This isn’t news, but meteorologists are calling for a “bomb cyclone” to hit these same areas.  Known as Winter Storm Grayson, it will bring snow, ice and strong wind gusts along the east coast as far south as Florida this week.  Grayson began on Wednesday as snow began to fall in Florida and Georgia.  While not unheard of, snow in these places is certainly rare.  Further to that, the National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for these areas.  Tallahassee did get one of these warnings approximately four years ago.

snow storm

Why is this such a big deal?  The combination of the extremely cold temperatures seen so far this winter and the “bomb cyclone” make for a really, really bad weather event.  A bomb cyclone is, essentially, a powerful low-pressure system that rapidly intensifies. If that sounds a lot like a hurricane, you’re not too far off. The ‘bomb’ part of the name refers to the phenomenon when the pressure inside a storm cell falls so quickly that it gives the storm explosive strength. This means that there is potential for hurricane or tropical force winds.  It’s unlikely to be as bad as Sandy, but no one actually knows.  It could be nothing, or it could be something really bad.

snow storm

What is clear though, is that it’s going to be extremely cold.  There is a new blast of arctic air on its way from Canada.  Thanks, Canada. According to Donald Trump, however, these cold temperatures are his doing which means global warming isn’t a thing.  I mean, what else can he take credit for?  But I digress.  How can you keep yourself informed of the weather, at least?  Well, there’s an app for that.  Or if you’re my mother, you have already tracked this storm and know exactly where it’s going to hit and when.

That said, there are actually a few apps that you can try.  The default weather iOS app isn’t the best for tracking a storm.  If it’s the summer, and you want to know if it’s going to rain or be sunny, that app isn’t bad.  But not for this purpose.  The free app from The Weather Channel or options from Dark Sky and CARROT Weather will provide you with more details.  Which is what you want.  The latter two will both cost you, but they’re certainly going to give you a much more detailed account of where the storm is likely to hit and when.

carrot weather

CARROT Weather has a bit more personality, but both have notifications for your Apple Watch.  If this storm is likely to affect you, I would recommend downloading one of these apps.  While the latter two on my list do have a cost associated with them, I think it’s worth the money to make sure you are informed.  Especially since no one really knows what this is or if it’s actually going to happen. As someone who grew up with a lot of snow, this isn’t super scary for me.  But given that the south-eastern states rarely see any snow, let alone this much, its something to watch out for.  Stay off the roads people.  Only essential travel if you must.