Bomb cyclone bashes US Northeast

WASHINGTON - A bomb cyclone is bashing Northeastern region of the United States on Saturday, causing travel disruption and power outages in some states.

The winter storm officially became a bomb cyclone on Saturday morning, tweeted the National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Prediction Center.

A bomb cyclone occurs when a midlatitude cyclone rapidly intensifies, dropping at least 24 millibars -- a measure for atmospheric pressure -- over 24 hours. In this case, it dropped 35 millibars in 18 hours.

The storm system continues to produce snow in parts of the U.S. East with impressive snowfall rates in parts of New England. Eastern Massachusetts could see up to 30 inches of snow in some areas, according to the NWS.

The state of New York is also suffering from heavy snow and strong wind. Governor Kathy Hochul took to the social media on Saturday to urge residents to "stay home, stay warm, and stay safe."

More than 4,000 flights have been canceled across the United States on Saturday as the storm is expected to last into Sunday. Meanwhile, nearly 120,000 users in Massachusetts have reported power outages as of Saturday afternoon.

An official of the Department of Homeland Security said on Friday that the federal government will be actively monitoring the storm's projected impacts and working closely with relevant agencies to provide assistance as needed.