Certain nor'easter, likely blizzard, possible bomb cyclone headed our way

If you were waiting for a story that would push COVID off the front page for a day, you got it.

A monster nor'easter that could easily morph into bombogenesis, also known as a "bomb cyclone," is barreling northward toward Greater Rochester bringing up to two feet of snow and howling winds that could down trees and power lines.

A winter storm watch begins at 10 a.m. today and runs through 1 p.m. on Sunday.

The nor'easter will begin as rain and turn over to snow around 11 a.m., according to Accuweather.

Central and Northern New England will feel the brunt of the storm, with a track expected to heavily impact the Northern Seacoast.

Temperatures that will remain in the low 30s much of the day may even rise to the mid-30 through the overnight turning precip to a combination of rain and snow before returning to all snow early Sunday and finally ending around 5 a.m.

Predicted snow here is expected to be anywhere from 10-14 inches, but could be higher.

Snow may fall at the rate of 2 inches per hour or greater in the heaviest snow bands of the storm, with wind gusts of 40-60 mph.

In addition to the storm evolving into a nor'easter and blizzard, forecasters will also be monitoring the potential for it to go through bombogenesis, which is when rapid strengthening occurs if the central barometric pressure plummets by 0.71 of an inch of mercury within 24 hours. When that occurs it is referred to as a bomb cyclone.

Accuweather material was used in this report