For the first time in 28 years, it is snowing in Florida — and the storm is far from over.
From Tallahassee, Florida, and north into Georgia and South Carolina, an icy blast of severe weather is taking the southeastern United States by storm. According to meteorologists, the surprisingly angry coastal squall may very well develop into a “bomb cyclone” on its way toward Maine, leaving a trail of frosty destruction in the wake of hurricane-force winds. The storm is also expected to bring coastal flooding and significant snowfall.
The first indicators of the storm’s severity came in the form of up to 24-foot waves clawing at the Florida coastline, following a storm warning that stretched from the Gulf Coast of Florida’s “Big Bend” to the Atlantic coast. Luckily, most of its fury will be spent off the coast before it is forecast to crash into Cape Cod, Maine, and then into Canada.
Meteorologist Ryan Maue of Weather.US said that while the storm is “akin to a hurricane travelling up the coast,” calling it a bomb cyclone might conjure inaccurate images to mind. He believes that people “shouldn’t be as worried about the storm as they should be about the extremely cold air behind it.”
People are sledding in Charleston, South Carolina, and snowball fights have already broken out in Savannah, Georgia. Airports are experiencing cancellations and delays, while hundreds of accidents are being reported along the icy stretch of Interstate 95. Disney and other parks have closed rides, while the North Carolina Zoo is offering discounts to intrepid visitors who want to see the polar bears, arctic foxes, and elk enjoying the blistering chill.
It has already proven to be a merciless winter in the United States, with record-breaking snowfall in Erie, Pennsylvania, and temperatures in Minnesota the lowest they’ve been in almost a century. By all appearances, there is a whole lot more where that came from.
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