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).
Health officials are warning of a grim winter as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 spreads rapidly across the country. New York City is the latest hotspot, with cases rising in a way the city hasn't previously seen in the pandemic. Dr. Bob Lahita, director of the Institute for Autoimmune and Rheumatic Diseases at St. Joseph Health and author of the book "Immunity Strong," joined Cheddar to discuss whether the rest of the country will follow in New York's footsteps.
Covid cases and deaths are on the rise in many parts of the country even before the Omicron variant takes hold. More than 30 states had higher seven-day averages for new cases last week than they did before Thanksgiving, according to Johns Hopkins University data, with some of the biggest increases in the Northeast. Dr. Anthony Santella, professor of Health Administration and University COVID Coordinator at the University of New Haven, joined Cheddar to discuss where we stand in the pandemic and how we can keep ourselves safe during the holidays.
Carlo's joined by a quarantining Baker to discuss the headlines from the weekend as Omicron spreads like wildfire, Manchin kills Biden's signature bill and Spider-Man throws a lifeline to the box office.
Authorities say at least five people died when a powerful storm system swept across the Great Plains and Midwest, spawning hurricane-force winds and likely tornadoes in Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota.
A gem company in Sri Lanka has unveiled a rare and massive gemstone weighing 683 pounds (310 kilograms) that has been certified as one of the biggest corundums ever found in the country.
