A giant white comma has taken shape off the western U.S. coast.
Though, technically, it's a common winter storm called a mid-latitude cyclone, so large it will impact much of the country while dousing many regions with rain or snow. The NASA image above shows the storm in a nicely mature stage, after it developed over the Pacific Ocean.
"It's a classic mid-latitude cyclone," said Jeff Weber, a research meteorologist at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.
A mid-latitude cyclone is quite different than a tropical cyclone (like hurricanes) which form near the equator and are fueled by really warm, bath-like surface ocean temperatures. Read more...
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