The Blizzard of 2026 is now officially a “bomb cyclone,” a designation given to rapidly intensifying nor’easters. All of our worst blizzards have undergone the process of bombogenesis, where the central pressure drops by at least 24 mb in 24 hours.
How strong is the blizzard of 2026
As of the mid morning analysis from the Weather Prediction Center, the blizzard has a central minimal pressure of 968 mb, a drop of about 40 mb. This incredibly fast intensification was aided by the Gulf Stream, a warm ocean current off the coast of Cape Hatteras, and a dip in the jet stream that opened the storm up for rapid vertical motion.
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