page_title: 2013–14 North American winter
section_title: Late March bomb cyclone
hierarchical_section_title: 2013–14 North American winter / Events / Late March bomb cyclone
caption_attribution_description: English: A massive and powerful nor'easter affecting the Northeastern United States on March 26, 2014, at peak intensity.
context_page_description: The 2013–14 North American winter refers to winter in North America as it occurred across the continent from late 2013 through early 2014. The winter of 2013–14 was one of the most significant for the United States, due in part to the breakdown of the polar vortex in November 2013, which allowed very cold air to travel down into the United States, leading to an extended period of very cold temperatures. The pattern continued mostly uninterrupted throughout the winter and numerous significant winter storms affected the Eastern United States, with the most notable one being a powerful winter storm that dumped ice and snow in the Southeast and Northeast in mid-February. Most of the cold weather abated by the end of March, though a few winter storms did affect the western portions of the U.S. towards the end of the winter.
  While there is no well-agreed-upon date used to indicate the start of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, there are two definitions of winter which may be used. Based on the astronomical definition, winter begins at the winter solstice, which in 2013 occurred on December 21, and ends at the March equinox, which in 2014 occurred on March 20.
context_section_description: Late on March 25, a winter storm emerged off the coast of the Southeastern United States and began to undergo explosive intensification, becoming a meteorological bomb by March 26. Powered by moisture coming from the Gulf of Mexico, the storm quickly became an unusually powerful nor'easter four times the size of Hurricane Sandy, and reached a maximum low pressure of 954 mbar (28.2 inHg; 95.4 kPa). The system produced powerful sustained winds up to 89 mph (143 km/h), and wind gusts up to 119 mph (192 km/h), with unofficial amounts reaching 129 mph (208 km/h). After making landfall on Nova Scotia, the system weakened to a 960 mbar (28 inHg; 96 kPa) nor'easter on March 27, before weakening further to a 975 mbar (28.8 inHg; 97.5 kPa) storm on March 28. On March 29, the system deteriorated into a weak winter storm over Greenland, where it would remain for the next few days while slowly dissipating.
caption: The massive nor'easter at its peak intensity
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