It is a Saturday night, February 21st, 2026.
And if you are anywhere on the East Coast right
now, specifically anywhere along that I -95 corridor,
you can absolutely feel it. Oh, yeah. You step
outside and the air just feels it feels heavy.
Right. There's this very specific kind of tension.
I mean, the grocery store shelves are getting
completely bare. The salt trucks are already
staging in these massive. convoys on the side
of the highway, and literally everyone is checking
their weather apps every five minutes. That's
right. Because we are watching a massive system
that is currently churning off the coast of the
Carolinas, and it is honestly poised to make
history. Yeah. This isn't just a regular winter
storm. This is an atmospheric event that meteorologists
are going to be talking about for a very, very
long time. The sheer energy involved here is
staggering. Welcome to Meteorology Matters, the
podcast that dives deep into the science, chaos,
and stories behind the weather that shapes our
world. It is great to be here as we track this
beast. This show was created by meteorologist
Rob Jones, who has basically not slept in three
days tracking this system relentlessly. Now let's
get into today's episode of Meteorology Matters.
But before we really dive into the snow drifts
and the actual physics of what is happening outside
your window right now, we have just a little
bit of housekeeping. Because the situation is
evolving so fast. It really is. The situation
on the ground is changing hourly at this point.
Exactly. So if you want the absolute latest minute
by minute updates, you need to be following the
creator of this show, meteorologist Rob Jones.
Absolutely. You can find him on Instagram, effectively,
just by... searching the word meteorologist and
on TikTok the handle is TV meteorologist right
and for the video content and trust me with a
storm of this magnitude you are going to want
to see the visuals you want to see the model
runs go to YouTube and follow Rob Jones hurricane
you can actually find the meteorology matters
podcast playlist right there as well and please
you know If you find this information useful
and considering what is coming tonight and tomorrow,
it might actually keep you safe or at least keep
you sane. Please like, follow, comment and rate
the podcast. It really helps us get this critical
information out to more people who need it. OK,
housekeeping is done. Let's look at the map.
We have a monster nor 'easter. It is basically
blasting the Mid -Atlantic and the Northeast
starting Sunday and rolling right into Monday.
But the thing that really stopped me in my tracks
today, the thing that screams, you know, this
is different. The headline? Yeah, the headline
coming out of New York City. It is a statistic
that really puts this entire event into perspective.
New York City is under a blizzard warning for
the first time since 2017. 2017? I mean, that
is nine years ago. That is nearly a decade. Think
about that for a second. We have nearly a decade
of people living in the city, people who maybe
move there for college or work, who have arguably
never seen a true blizzard warning in Manhattan.
Right. We aren't just talking about a winter
storm watch or an advisory or a generic snow
event. A blizzard warning is a very specific
very severe criteria from NOAA. Let's break that
down, actually, because people throw the word
blizzard around a lot. They do, yeah. But to
get the official warning, it implies sustained
winds or frequent gusts of 35 miles per hour
or greater and considerable falling or blowing
snow that reduces visibility to less than a quarter
of a mile. Wow. And the kicker is that has to
last for three hours or more consecutively. So
this isn't just, oh, look, it's going to snow
a lot today. You will physically not be able
to see your hand in front of your face. Precisely.
It is a sensory deprivation event. And the scope
of these warnings is just massive. We're looking
at blizzard warnings covering nearly 30 million
people right now. 30 million. Yeah, that is a
staggering number of people directly in the path
of the most severe criteria. I mean, 30 million,
that is the population of entire countries. That
is an absolute logistical nightmare waiting to
happen for emergency services, for the EPA dealing
with municipal water runoffs later, for everything.
It stretches all the way from coastal New Jersey
right up through the New York City metro area
covering all of Long Island and pushing straight
up into coastal Connecticut and Massachusetts.
See I -95 corridor's literal nightmare scenario.
It is the heart of the megalopolis completely
shutting down. So let's talk totals because at
the end of the day that is what everyone wants
to know, right? How much are we actually shoveling?
How much of this concrete are we moving off our
driveways? Get your back braces ready. Seriously,
the general forecast across this entire swath
is a widespread 12 to 18 inches. That is the
baseline. That is what you should plan for at
an absolute minimum if you are in those warning
areas. But, and there's always, but with these
highly dynamic atmospheric systems, there is
significant boom potential. Boom potential. I
actually really like that term, even if I really
don't like the implications for my lower back
tomorrow morning. Yeah. Boom potential refers
to mesoscale banding. Basically, it means that
where those heavy snow bands set up and stall,
and they will absolutely stall because the atmospheric
dynamics here are so incredibly strong, we can
see localized totals pushing up to 24 inches.
Two solid feet of snow. Two feet. I saw that
the forecast specifically for Central Park is
calling for 18 inches as the baseline, but they
aren't ruling out that two foot mark at all.
That is correct. And if we hit that, We are flirting
with real record breaking territory for the city.
The NOAA office in up to New York is being very,
very clear about this potential in their forecast
discussions. This isn't media hype. The computer
models are just locking in. They are seeing all
that moisture. Right. They're seeing the moisture
availability, the intense lift in the atmosphere,
and the math just adds up to huge totals. You
can't argue with the physics of it. And what
about the timing? Because I know a lot of people
try to... You know, outsmart the storm. They
think, oh, I'll just drive early Sunday morning
and beat it, or I'll wait until Monday afternoon
when it slows down. Yeah. Do not try to outsmart
this one. I can't stress that enough. The atmosphere
always wins that game. Always. The precipitation
starts as a rain and snow mix down in D .C. on
Sunday morning. But the main event, the rapid
intensification of this system, happens Sunday
night into Monday morning. Clearly the worst
possible time frame for a Monday commute. Exactly.
we were expecting snowfall rates of one to two
inches per hour during that overnight period.
And I actually read in some of the deeper technical
discussions that in the heaviest of those mesoscale
bands we could see three inches per hour. Is
that? Three inches per hour is incredible. Yes,
that is on the table. Think about what that means
practically. You can go out and show your front
walk, turn around. go inside for a quick cup
of coffee, and by the time you look out the kitchen
window, it is completely covered again. Yeah,
it's just demoralizing. Road crews simply cannot
keep up with three inches per hour. It is physically
impossible with the equipment they have. You
plow a lane on the highway, drive 10 miles down
the road, turn around to come back, and the lane
you literally just plowed has already gone under
a fresh layer. So we have the main headline,
a historic blizzard warning ending a nine -year
drought of major snow events for New York City.
But let's dig into why. Why this specific storm?
Why now? Because I keep hearing this term thrown
around on social media and everywhere else. Bomb
cyclone. Yes. It is a term that sounds like it
was invented by a Hollywood movie producer to
sell tickets to a disaster flick. But it's actually
a very legitimate meteorological term. So let's
unpack the anatomy of this Northeaster. Where
exactly is it coming from and how does it get
so strong? It is a very classic setup. The storm
is developing off the coast of the Carolinas
overnight tonight. and it is gathering its strength
from the massive temperature contrast between
the warm Gulf Stream waters and the bitter cold
continental air sitting over the land. Some of
that moisture probably originally tracing back
down to the Gulf of Mexico before it crossed
over. Exactly. It taps into that southern moisture,
crosses the southeast and then hits the Atlantic.
It is going to move north, hugging the coast.
Now, usually these storms might drift too far
out to sea or they might hug the land way too
close and just bring a bunch of rain to the I
-95 corridor. Right. The classic rain snow line
battle. Exactly. But this one is threading a
very, very dangerous needle. right up the coast.
And that leads to the bomb cyclone part of the
equation. Right. The technical term for what
is happening is bombogenesis. For a storm to
officially qualify as a bomb cyclone, the barometric
pressure within the center of the low has to
drop 24 millibars in 24 hours. OK, 24 and 24.
That is the golden rule. That is the rule. But
this storm, it is predicted to drop 24 millibars
in less than 12 hours. Wow. So it is massively
overachieving. It is rapidly intensifying at
an alarming rate. Think of the atmosphere like
a giant vacuum cleaner. When that pressure drops
that incredibly fast, it creates a massive vacuum
at the surface. It literally sucks in air from
all directions to fill that void. And that rushing
air is the wind. That rushing air is exactly
what generates those hurricane force wind gusts
we are going to see. And that vertical motion
of the air rising so violently to fill the low
pressure, that is what rings out the atmospheric
moisture like a sponge and creates those intense
precipitation bands. So a rapid pressure drop
basically equals violence in the atmosphere.
Exactly. It creates a feedback loop of intensity.
The more the pressure drops, the stronger the
winds get, which pulls in more moisture, which
makes the snow heavier. It is a self -sustaining
engine of winter chaos. Now there is another
concept I came across while looking at the data
for this system that I found absolutely fascinating.
It is called the 4070 benchmark. Ah yes, the
absolute holy grail for snow lovers on the East
Coast. If you were a meteorologist working in
this part of the country, those numbers are basically
tattooed on the inside of your brain. It sounds
like a secret code. 4070. Tell us about this
aha moment in forecasting. What does it actually
mean? It really is a sweet spot for I -95 snow
lovers. It refers to a very specific geographic
coordinate on the map. 40 degrees north latitude,
70 degrees west longitude. Okay, and for those
of us who, you know, do not have a maritime chart
sitting in front of us right now, where exactly
is that? It is out in the Atlantic Ocean, roughly
about 80 miles due south of Nantucket. It is
just open water. OK, so why does this one completely
invisible point out in the middle of the ocean
matter so much to millions of people on land?
Because the track at the center of the storm
relative to that exact point determines everything
for the big cities, DC, Philly, New York, Boston.
We basically look at three distinct scenarios
regarding this benchmark. It is all about the
geometry of the storm track. OK, let's walk through
them. Scenario one. The storm tracks west of
the benchmark, so inside the line closer to land.
If it tracks west, Closer to the coast, the counterclockwise
rotation of the storm pulls in warmer air off
the ocean. Remember, the ocean is a massive heat
source compared to the frozen land right now.
Right. So the storm brings that relatively warm
maritime air inland. The rain -snow line pushes
way north and west. This turns into a massive
headache for places like Philly and New York.
You get the messy scenario, flush, heavy rain,
maybe some snow on the back end as it leaves,
but definitely not the blockbuster snow event.
It just washes away whatever snow you do manage
to get initially. Okay, nobody really wants the
slushy mess. It's the worst of both worlds. So
scenario two. It tracks east of the benchmark,
further out to sea. That is what we call the
fish storm. It stays way out in the ocean. The
fishes get a lot of waves and turbulence, but
the mainland just gets dry air pulled down from
Canada. Maybe the Cape gets grazed by some flurries,
but for the most part, it is a complete miss
for the big cities. You get cold, windy weather,
but virtually no snow. And scenario three. It
tracks directly over the benchmark. That is the
Goldilocks Zone. If the low pressure tracks right
over 4070, it is far enough offshore to keep
the bitter cold air locked in place over the
cities. But it's close enough to wrap that deep
Atlantic moisture all the way back into the coast.
Oh, wow. That is the recipe for a blockbuster
snowstorm. It allows the cold air to constantly
feed into the storm from the north and west without
being corrupted by the warm ocean air. And looking
at the data for this weekend, forecast models
are showing this storm tracking very, very close
to that 4070 benchmark. That is exactly why confidence
is so incredibly high right now. That is why
NOAA is using words like certainty in their discussions
and issuing these blizzard warnings 24 hours
out. The geometry of this specific storm is just
perfect for big snow. It is honestly fascinating
how just 50 miles one way or the other out in
the ocean completely changes millions of people's
Monday morning commute. It is the butterfly effect
in real time action. A slight wobble in the track
changes an annoying rainstorm to two feet of
paralyzing snow. But right now, the wobble looks
like it is breaking entirely in favor of the
snow. The models have been remarkably consistent
run after run, which is honestly a bit scary
in its own right. Yeah, when the models all agree,
you know you're in for it. So we know the science,
we know the why. Let's talk about the who. We
need to do a regional breakdown because this
impacts everyone across the coast very differently.
Let's start with the absolute bullseye, New York
City and Long Island. The impact rating here
is a solid 9 out of 10. Again, going back to
that blizzard warning, the first since 2017.
The context here is just vital. The city has
not had to mobilize its resources for an event
of this specific magnitude in a very long time.
You have infrastructure that simply hasn't been
tested like this in years. And the disruption
started even before the first flake fell. I mean,
I am looking at flight cancellations as of Saturday
night right now. It is already ugly. Three hundred
and thirty eight flights canceled at LaGuardia.
Four ninety three at JFK. Two eighty four in
Newark. And those numbers. They're only going
to go up exponentially as the system actually
arrives tomorrow. If you were planning to fly
in or out of the NYC metro area on Sunday or
Monday, you aren't going anywhere. You are entirely
grounded. And the city government is kicking
into high gear. Mayor Zoran Mamdani held a press
conference earlier today. He is clearly not taking
any chances with this. No, the municipal response
is massive. They've mobilized 700 salt spreaders.
2200 plows are ready to go. They're throwing
literally everything they have at this storm.
They cannot afford to let the economic engine
of the city grind to a halt for a week. But here's
the detail from the press conference that I found
really interesting. The Snow Army. Yes. The emergency
snow shovelers. The city is actually hiring local
residents to go out and shovel. It is a great
program actually. It acknowledges the reality
that the plows just can't do everything, especially
in a city as incredibly dense as New York. You
have all the pedestrian crossings, bus stops,
subway entrances, fire hydrants. Right, plows
just push the snow right onto the sidewalks anyway.
Exactly. So they pay residents, they literally
call them emergency snow shovelers, to go out
there and manually clear the critical infrastructure.
It is essentially crowdsourcing the disaster
cleanup. It mobilizes the community in a really
effective way. It is really smart. And hey, if
you are stuck in the city tomorrow and you want
to make some extra cash, look into it. So moving
across the Hudson River, let's talk about New
Jersey. New Jersey is basically taking the absolute
brunt of this system. Governor Mikey Sherrill
has already declared a state of emergency for
all 21 counties in the state. Not just the coast,
not just the northern hills, the entire state.
That alone tells you the immense breadth of this
storm. And 17 of those counties are currently
under blizzard warning. Correct. But there is
a specific area in Jersey that meteorologists
are calling the jackpot zone. Oh, boy. Where
is that? It's Monmouth, Ocean and southeastern
Burlington counties. The high -resolution models
are repeatedly pinning the heaviest mesoscale
banding right over this specific area. We are
talking about totals easily nearing and very
possibly exceeding two full feet of snow. That
is paralyzing amounts of snow. That is shut down
the Garden State Parkway amounts of snow. It
absolutely is. But in New Jersey, particularly
along the Jersey Shore and the Delaware Bay,
it isn't just the snow we are worried about.
It is the water. We have major concerns about
coastal flooding. Right, because of that extreme
low pressure and those hurricane force winds
actively driving the ocean water on shore. Exactly.
We're looking at moderate to major tidal flooding
Sunday night into Monday's high tide cycles.
So if you live in those coastal communities that
are already prone to flooding, you have to deal
with the rising ocean water and two feet of snow
simultaneously. That sounds like a nightmare.
It is a very dangerous combination. It makes
emergency evacuation difficult, if not completely
impossible, once the storm actually starts. You
can't drive through floodwaters and you certainly
can't drive through floodwaters hiding under
two feet of snow. Oh, let's move further north
up into New England. Now, New England is notoriously
hardy when it comes to winter weather, obviously,
but this storm is going to test even them. Connecticut.
Specifically looking at New London is rated at
a 9 out of 10 impact. They're looking at a solid
10 to 20 inches. 10 Boston? Boston is right in
that 10 to 20 inch range as well. But Cape Cod
the Cape might actually see 1 to 2 feet. Really?
even being out in the water. Yeah, the geographical
orientation of the Cape just catches those ocean
effect snow bands perfectly as the storm pulls
away to the north and east. Usually the Cape
gets rain or a mix because it sticks out into
the relatively warmer ocean. But the cold air
injection with this specific bomb cyclone is
so incredibly strong, it is going to be all snow,
even out there. And Portsmouth, New Hampshire,
is also looking at a 9 out of 10 impact rating.
So this thing isn't fizzling out as it goes north.
If anything, its wind field is expanding. It
is a massive broad shield of heavy precipitation.
It isn't losing any real energy until it is well
past Maine and up into the Canadian Maritimes.
Now, what about the southern end of this, the
I -95 South Corridor, D .C., Philly, Baltimore?
This is where that rain snow line we talked about
earlier gets really tricky. Washington DC is
going to start as a rain and mix event. The cold
air basically has to erase the incoming moisture.
As the storm intensifies off the coast, it pulls
that colder air down from the north, eventually
changing the rain over to snow. So DC might only
see up to five inches. Well, five inches in DC
shuts the city down just as effectively as two
feet does in Boston. Very true. The municipal
infrastructure reacts very differently depending
on what they're used to. Philadelphia, however,
is a bit further north and stays colder longer.
They are under a solid winter storm warning and
could easily see up to a foot of snow. And Baltimore?
Yeah. Sitting right in the middle there. Baltimore
is sitting at an impact rating of about a six
out of ten. Conditions will start to deteriorate
rapidly Sunday afternoon. They are sort of the
gateway to the really heavy stuff further north.
So we have firmly established that there is going
to be a lot of snow. But when we talk about meteorology
matters, we really need to look beyond just the
snowfall totals. The hazards here go way beyond
just the snow is deep. That is a crucial point
for people to understand. If this were two feet
of light, fluffy champagne powder like you get
out in Utah or Colorado, it would be one thing.
You could honestly just use a leaf blower to
clear off your car. This is not that kind of
snow. No. we are dealing with the wind first.
Right. Winds gusting 40 to 55 miles per hour.
When you combine that kind of wind with falling
snow, you get instant whiteout conditions. But
the real structural danger comes from the wet
snow factor. Explain that for us. Why is wet
snow so much worse? We in the weather community
call it concrete. In January, when it is, say,
10 degrees outside, snow has a very low water
content. It is light. It's airy. But this is
late February. The ocean is a bit warmer. The
air is slightly more humid. So the snow has a
very high liquid water equivalent. It's heavy.
It is incredibly heavy and sticky. The ratio
of water to snow is much higher than your typical
midwinter storm. So it basically just sticks
to everything it touches. It plasters onto tree
branches. It clings to power lines. Now do the
basic physics of that. You take a large tree
branch, you add 50 to 100 pounds of wet sticky
snow to it, and then you hit that loaded branch
with a 55 mile per hour gust of wind. Snap. Snap.
Branches come down everywhere. And they take
the local power lines right down with them. We
are looking at a very high probability of a widespread
power outage event. Specific high -risk areas
for outages are Connecticut, New Jersey, New
York, Rhode Island, and eastern Massachusetts.
And that completely changes the survival equation,
doesn't it? I mean, losing power in the summer
is an annoyance, but losing power when it is
20 degrees outside is genuinely dangerous. It
really is. You lose your primary heat source.
If you rely on electric pumps for well water,
you suddenly lose your running water. It turns
a fun, cozy snow day into a stressful survival
situation very quickly. You have to start thinking
about how you're going to stay warm without the
electrical grid. And what about travel during
all this? Dangerous, if not impossible. That
is the exact official language coming from NOAA,
specifically the National Weather Service offices.
Not language they use lately. No, they don't.
Whiteout conditions mean visibility is under
a quarter mile. You won't be able to see the
hood of your own car. But also, with winds that
high, you get extreme drifting. I saw mentions
on the models of drifts reaching three to five
feet in New England. Yeah, a five -foot drift
is taller than most sedans. You can easily get
stranded on a major highway simply because a
snow drift forms around your vehicle faster than
you can drive through it. Staying off the roads
is not just a polite suggestion from the authorities.
It is an absolute necessity. Emergency crews
might not be able to physically reach you if
you get stuck. You know... Whenever a storm like
this is officially announced, something fascinating
happens at every local grocery store. The shelves
are cleared out. It is like clockwork. It is
the milk and bread phenomenon. I actually went
to the store earlier today just to grab some
coffee creamer and it was like a scene from a
zombie apocalypse movie. The bread aisle was
completely bare. The dairy case was totally empty.
It happens every single time. It is practically
a cultural ritual on the East Coast at this point.
Let's get into the psychology of this for a minute.
Why do we do this? And specifically, why do we
rush out for perishables? It is one of the great
recurring ironies of disaster prep. Think about
it logically for just a second. You are preparing
for a massive winter storm where the number one
secondary risk is a widespread power outage.
Right, no electricity. So what do people universally
go out and buy? Milk? which completely spoils
in about four hours if the fridge dies. And bread,
which molds quickly or gets crushed. It completely
delays utility, makes absolutely no practical
sense. Right. We actually looked into the research
of Hirschafrin for this. He's an expert in behavioral
finance and he explains this phenomenon really
well. He says it is all about fear and something
he calls excessive pessimism. That is the psychological
trigger right there. When we hear the word blizzard,
our brains do not do a calm... calibrated risk
assessment. We instantly jump to the absolute
worst -case scenario. We visualize ourselves
starving in our homes. We visualize being physically
trapped by the snow for weeks. The siege mentality.
Exactly. And when we feel that deep primal fear,
we immediately reach for comfort. We reach for
nostalgia. We buy what we literally saw our parents
buy when we were kids. We buy what we see everyone
else in the store buying. It's just massive peer
pressure. It is. If you walk into a store and
see an empty shelf, your brain instinctively
says, well, everyone else thinks milk is essential
for survival, so I must desperately need milk,
too. We saw the exact same thing in 2020 with
the total paper shortages and in 2021 with the
gasoline panic buying. Yes. It is an emotional
purchase, not a practical one. The classic milk
sandwich is just a psychological comfort mechanism.
It is. It is a way for us to feel like we are
doing something, anything, to prepare, even if
that something does not actually make an ounce
of sense for a power outage. It restores our
internal sense of control over an uncontrollable
weather event. Well said. So, let's provide a
real survival guide for our listeners. If we
absolutely should not be stocking up on milk
and bread today, what should actually be in the
grocery cart? The anti -milk argument is incredibly
strong. Again, it is totally unsafe to drink
after four hours without power. You're basically
just buying really expensive, soon to be spoiled
milk. I saw a recommendation in the research
that I can fully get behind, honestly, the pro
-candy and alcohol argument. Yes, and this actually
comes from a very practical, scientifically sound
place. Please explain the science of survival
candy, because I am all ears. Candy is extremely
high calorie. It provides a massive, quick energy
boost. And most importantly, it is completely
shelf -stable. A candy bar does not care if the
power goes out for three days. If you are out
there shoveling heavy, wet concrete snow for
two hours in freezing temps, a Snickers bar is
actually an incredibly good fuel source for your
body. It keeps your internal engine running when
you are burning thousands of calories. Okay,
that makes perfect sense. And the alcohol? Well,
obviously it also does not need any refrigeration,
but more importantly, it helps with what emergency
planners call morale. Morale is important. It
is. Being stuck in a freezing cold house with
no internet, no TV, and kids bouncing off the
walls is incredibly stressful. A glass of wine
or a nice pour of bourbon can genuinely help
with relaxation during a highly tense outage
situation. So it is about mental health just
as much as physical health in a crisis. Precisely.
But for actual long -term sustenance, look at
your pantry staples. Peanut butter is the ultimate
survival food. It's nutrient dense, high fat,
high protein, and lasts forever at room temperature.
Dried fruit is good too. Dried fruit is excellent.
canned goods, specifically things you can safely
eat cold right out of the can if you absolutely
have to, like beans or certain soups. Provided
you actually own a manual can opener. Yes, a
manual can opener is the most forgotten prep
item ever. Do not rely on your electric one.
So the takeaway is... Swap the highly perishable
milk and bread for peanut butter, whiskey, and
chocolate. Honestly, it sounds like a much better
Blizzard party anyway. It really does. It is
all about comfort versus actual utility. But
I guess in a way, if buying the gallon of milk
makes you feel safer psychologically, maybe that
serves a valid purpose too. Fair point. Just
make sure you drink it really fast once the lights
flicker. Exactly. Before we wrap up, I want to
circle back to the immediate situation outside.
It is Saturday night, Sunday morning, things
start to gradually go downhill. Sunday night
is the absolute peak of this monster. Right.
If we can leave the listeners with one operational
thought tonight, the window to prepare is rapidly
closing. By Sunday afternoon, you should be exactly
where you intend to stay for the next 48 hours.
Do not try to travel Sunday night under any circumstances.
Absolutely not. With snowfall rates of two to
three inches an hour and pure whiteout conditions,
emergency services might not be able to physically
reach you if you slide off the road and get stuck.
You are entirely on your own out there. This
is a classic intense nor 'easter with those terrifying
bomb cyclone characteristics. The pressure drop
is historically significant. The moisture content
is exceptionally high. The jackpot zone in Jersey
could easily see two feet. And New York City
is staring down its first real blizzard in nine
long years. It is a major, potentially generational
event for some of these areas. Treat it with
the respect it deserves. The atmosphere is not
something to mess with. Okay, let's unpack this.
Actually, no, we have unpacked it all. We have
covered the complex science, the geography of
the 4070 benchmark, the deep psychology of panic
buying, and the ultimate grocery list. We covered
a lot of ground today. We really did. But I have
one final thought for everyone listening right
now. We sit here and talk about the 4070 benchmark
and bombogenesis and all these highly technical
meteorological terms. But at the end of the day,
weather is a profoundly human experience. It
is that incredible eerie silence that falls over
a massive bustling city when the snow gets deep
enough to muffle all the cars. It is the raw
howling sound of the wind against your window.
It really connects us all. Everyone in the Northeast,
millions of people, are going to be going through
this exact same intense experience together for
the next 48 hours. It is a shared reality in
a world where we don't have many of those left.
It's true. It forces us to stop. So stay safe
out there. Maybe check on your neighbors, especially
the elderly who might need help shoveling. And
honestly, just try to enjoy the excuse to slow
down for a couple of days. Let the modern world
pause while this ancient atmospheric beast rolls
through. And enjoy your peanut butter and whiskey.
You've been listening to Meteorology Matters,
created by meteorologist Rob Jones. Thanks for
listening. And remember, meteorology always matters.
Make sure to follow Rob Jones on Instagram at
Meteorologist, on TikTok at TV Meteorologist,
and on YouTube at Rob Jones Hurricane. Stay warm,
everyone.