DISCUSSION: As a strong low pressure continues to travel across the North Atlantic Ocean and just to the west of western Europe, many forecasters and residents are bracing for significant impacts from this powerful incoming extra-tropical cyclone. IN the image above, you can denote the well-wrapped circulation associated with this particular storm system based on the clear evidence of what is a very tightly-wrapped center of circulation based on the cyclonic (i.e., a counter-clockwise turning of the cloud cover associated with the low pressure system as you away from the center of the low pressure system's circulation center) "whirlpool-like" cloud structure on display just to the west of Norway and Sweden. Note how large the circulation of this low pressure system and how much ground it cover; though this is not uncommon for North Atlantic cyclones to grow to this size and larger.
It is worth noting that many parts of the British Isles have already been feeling many substantial impacts in the form of heavy rain (towards the lower elevations), heavy snowfall (towards the higher elevations), and strong winds due to the strong and persistent onshore flow coming directly off the Atlantic Ocean. Thus, as this large low pressure system continues to head towards mainland western and northwestern Europe, the severity of the overall impacts from this latest storm system will increase and then begin to gradually abate as it weakens over land.
To learn more about other high-impact weather events occurring across Europe, be sure to click here!
©2017 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz