Possible East Coast Bomb Cyclone Could Bring More Snow, Wind To Some Areas Hit By Last Weekend's Winter Storm
- - Possible East Coast Bomb Cyclone Could Bring More Snow, Wind To Some Areas Hit By Last Weekend's Winter Storm
Rob Shackelford January 27, 2026 at 11:35 PM
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An East Coast storm this weekend could intensify into a bomb cyclone, with the potential for significant snow, strong winds and some coastal flooding from the nor'easter from the Carolinas to New England, including areas still digging out after Winter Storm Fern last weekend.
As often is the case several days away from the storm, some aspects are of higher confidence, and some are still very unclear.
Timing: More Certain
In general, the forecast guidance is fairly in sync that this could be a long-lasting storm along the East Coast with the following general timing:
- Friday night: Snow could start in parts of the Southeast overnight.
- Saturday: The storm gains strength along the Southeast coast with snow, wind increasing.
- Sunday: Storm reaches peak intensity with strong winds, potentially heavy snow, coastal flooding.
- Monday: Storm may linger in parts of New England early, then moves away.
For a look at our latest day-by-day forecast, check our weekly planner maps, here.
Intense Storm: More Certain
We're also increasingly confident that low pressure off the Eastern Seaboard will eventually become intense.
It may wind up fast enough to be deemed a "bomb cyclone" a term for rapidly strengthening low pressure.
It's a scary sounding phrase, but it turns out bomb cyclones happen about once a year off the East Coast in the colder months, feeding off the sharp contrast between cold air over land moving over the warmer ocean.
This East Coast storm will also likely become a nor'easter, a term for an East Coast storm in which the winds ahead — to the north — of the storm come from the northeast.
(MET 101: Bomb Cyclones | Nor'easters)
One model forecast of the nor'easter, potential bomb cyclone off the East Coast on Sunday.Winds, Coastal Flood Threat: More Certain
Given the intensity of the storm, there are two threats that are of higher confidence this weekend, though the exact details remain yet to be resolved this soon.
Winds: There is a threat for strong winds, capable of power outages and some tree damage, along at least parts of the East Coast from the Outer Banks of North Carolina to New England. Exactly where and how far inland those high winds may occur is still uncertain, dependent on the exact path and intensity of the storm. But this has the potential to be a much windier storm that Winter Storm Fern last weekend.
Coastal flooding: Some coastal flooding at high tide seems probable this weekend, possibly lingering into Monday, along parts of the East Coast from the northern Outer Banks to New England. Again, the details of this remain uncertain this far out.
Snowfall: Less Certain
What we're much less sure of is who will see significant snow and how much.
That's not because there's a lack of cold air. In fact, there will be record cold air in place in parts of the East.
But it's exactly where the center of low pressure moves that is key.
If the low tracks far enough offshore, it could pull most of the precipitation with it away from the coast.
But a closer track to the coast brings the chance of heavy, wind-whipped snow to the Eastern Seaboard. And if that track is close enough, that heavy snow threat could extend farther inland.
For now, the map below represents our current forecast, with the potential for heavier snow shown in the purple contours.
As you see, this could be a significant snow event for parts of the Southeast, from southern Virginia into the Carolinas and even northeast Georgia.
This is a broad outlook of where snow may fall from this weekend's nor'easter. Areas in the purple contours have a better chance of heavy snow accumulations. This forecast may change in the next few days.
Check back with us frequently at weather.com for the very latest updates on this forecast.
Rob Shackelford is a meteorologist and climate scientist at weather.com. He received his undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Georgia studying meteorology and experimenting with alternative hurricane forecasting tools.
Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.
Source: “AOL Breaking”
