The “Bomb Cyclone” whipped the East Coast Thursday, with winds of up to 60 mph and snow falling at the rate of two inches per hour.
One meteorologist told Cheddar the arctic blast dubbed “Grayson” is even more powerful than 1993’s “Storm of the Century.”
“Fortunately is located just off-shore, so we are not seeing the very worst of it,” said Bob Henson, blogger at Weather Underground. “It’s also moving so quickly that the snowfall amounts, the totals, are not going to be as high as they were in that 1993 storm. However, the winds are going to be hellacious.”
The 1993 storm caused the equivalent of $9.3 billion in damages from the Deep South through the East Coast.
But this year’s blizzard, despite its ominous-sounding descriptor, may be less scary than it sounds. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration notes the term “Bomb Cyclone” comes from the term “bombogenesis,” which describes pressures that drop to at least 24 millibars over 24 hours.
Still, Henson points out, Grayson has already claimed some victims.
“We just had a couple of fatalities in North Carolina of people out on the roads and their trucks slid of the roads,” he said. He added that the cold temperatures can also be deadly.
In order to stay safe, Henson suggests staying in a warm place, avoiding travel, and keeping off the road as the most important steps.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/climate-changes-role-in-winter-storm-grayson).
President Biden's self-imposed deadline of making booster vaccines available for all Americans is today, but with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration only approving the boosters for senior citizens, it doesn't look like he can make that deadline. The nation's top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci defended both positions, saying that the deadline was more of a placeholder and that he also stands by the FDA's decision.
Dr. Jen Caudle, family physician and associate professor at Rowan University, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss more on the booster shot and Pfizer's vaccine for young kids.
26 states have now fully vaccinated more than half of their population with Vermont, Connecticut, and Massachusetts fully vaccinating at least two-thirds of their residents. These three states are among the ones with the lowest new Covid-19 cases per capita, but in states with low vaccination rates, hospitals are filling up again.
Dr. Rob Davidson, ER doctor and executive director of Committee to Protect Health Care, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss more.
Gas prices are expected to rise ahead of Labor Day weekend, with millions of people hitting the road and Hurricane Ida disrupting the nation's oil and gas industries. Chris Williams, CEO of CW Petroleum Corp, joined Cheddar to discuss the rise and fall of gas prices, plus what his company plans to do to adapt to the uptick in electric vehicles.
