Post Nuri: U.S. Braces for Arctic Invasion in Wake of Record-Breaking Storm

As of this morning Ex-Typhoon Nuri, located in the Bearing Sea, bombed-out to 924 mb. This makes it the strongest extratropical cyclone in the Pacific Ocean, breaking the previous record of 925mb that occurred between October 25-26 of 1977.

For those of you following this story, you hear a lot of Meteorologists using the term "bombing-out", but what does this term mean?  Simply put, "bombing-out" refers to a Low that drops 24mb or more in pressure over a 24 hour period.

It's not often we hear about how storms in the Pacific Ocean affect our weather 4,500 miles away.  However, a storm of this magnitude and strength will ultimately lead to a cold snap that will affect 42 or more states across the contiguous U.S. by week's end.

Extratropical storm Nuri, The lines are streamlines that represent
 how fast the winds around the storm are moving. The more
streamlines in any given area, the faster the wind.
Photo Courtesy of :Earth wind map

After battering Alaska with hurricane-force winds, 50-foot swells, and coastal erosion, Nuri will interfere with the jet stream (the level of high winds between 250mb and 300mb, or 9000m above mean sea level). The jet stream helps push air masses associated with High and Low pressure around the globe, which greatly affect everyday weather patterns.

Nuri is expected to cause a very large ridge of High pressure across the Eastern Pacific, parts of Central/ Eastern Canada, and the United States. As this ridge amplifies, a trough of Low pressure will deepen across the Central and Eastern U.S. This is what Meteorologists refer to as a teleconnection, or climate anomalies that are related across large distances. In this case, the trough associated with Nuri will bring arctic air from Canada into the U.S. by mid-week. 

As a result, heavy snow and strong winds will be felt in South Dakota, Minnesota, Northern Wisconsin, and Michigan's Upper-Peninsula, where Winter Storm Watches and Warnings are in effect.  Elsewhere, very cold temperatures will follow in the wake of a cold front, with highs struggling to warm above 32 degrees forecasted across parts of the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and Eastern Seaboard through the weekend