There's a big, pretty cyclone spinning off the West Coast

There's a big, pretty cyclone spinning off the West Coast

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...

More about Weather, Storm, Cyclones, Science, and Climate Environment


via Zero Tech Blog

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