It’s rare in San Diego for there to be rain or even chilly temperatures. In the morning and at night when the sun goes down, we do get that brisk atmosphere, but it’s accompanied by clear skies and a nice, warm day. Recently, this winter season has been hitting Eastern states with a fury, covering the other half of this country with snow, ice, and extreme winds. From New York to Tennessee to the Carolinas people are hammering ice off their cars, staying home from school, being late or missing work, and experiencing a bit of a quarantine due to the storms that seem to be hitting them week after week, with a short recovery period, and barely enough time to prepare for the next wave of torture.

Nor’easter is a wind pattern coming from the North East direction and is notable for being more disastrous than welcoming. Nor’easters often signal strong winds and more than undesirable conditions. Since these winds and other precarious weather conditions are hitting the U.S. from the coast, a lot of coast side towns are subject to flooding. Unfortunately it’s not just the winds and storms that are causing these floods but during this storm the tides were at their Spring or King tide cycle, where tides are extremely high and extremely low, creating more opportunities for the flooding of these coastal towns. The Washington Post shared data from meteorologists predicting that in the Outer Banks, or Carolinas region winds will be reaching 30-50 mph commonly and in extreme conditions may reach up to 70-80mph.

Even more popularly warm areas in Florida and islands in the Caribbean are reaching record lows and more frigid temperatures than they are used to. These extreme winds and temperatures are due to what’s called a ‘polar vortex’ – frigid air that’s been trapped, or bottled, in the Arctic and is spreading. Despite these record lows for the more tropical regions, northern states and countries are feeling milder conditions as far as the actual temperature. Frankie Corney, 23, a resident of New York, has experienced firsthand the effects of this storm. Corney shared that “the bay had frozen over and the ferry I take to and from work is shut down until further notice.”

USA Today shares information on what is called a bombogenesis, which may be what is actually hitting these regions, “bombogenesis occurs when a storm’s barometric pressure drops by 24 millibars – a millibar is a way of measuring pressure – in 24 hours.” This dramatic change in pressure signifies a cyclone, or a ‘bomb cyclone’. Cyclones can be thought of as a winter time hurricane. If you have family or friends in any of these areas, reach out, see how they’re doing and offer whatever support you can!