Winter renews in New England as ‘bomb cyclone’ punishes Massachusetts, Maine and Rhode Island.

Yet another winter storm – a nor’easter – has just hit northeast United States, the third in two weeks.

The storm, qualified as a “bomb cyclone”, punished Massachusetts and Rhode Island particularly hard.

Its central pressure, the eye of the storm, dropped more than 24 millibars in 24 hours, down to 972 mb.

Blizzard warnings were issued along a stretch of Atlantic coastline from Massachusetts, past New Hampshire and onto to the eastern tip of Maine, including the cities of Boston and Portland. Snowfall totals of 30 to 60cm were widespread throughout eastern New England.

Blizzard conditions were confirmed in Massachusetts with winds gusting to 130 kilometres per hour in East Falmouth and nearly as high on Nantucket Island, where 99 percent of the population was without power on Monday night.

This is the fifth significant nor’easter for the Northeast US this year, which makes a lot of big storms for one winter. But, there is precedent for multiple snowstorms in the Boston area in a short period: February 2015.  During that month, the city got a record total of 1.65 metres of snow.

Winter is not yet over and weather forecast models suggest yet another nor’easter in the middle of next week. That one would bring heavy rain, snow and strong winds. The moon’s phase will bring higher tides, so the potential for a damaging storm surge is correspondingly higher. 

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