Bomb cyclone rapidly strengthening off the East Coast as dangerous cold intensifies across the eastern and central US this weekend
> Blizzard conditions, powerful winds and coastal flooding disrupted travel, commerce, and deliveries across the Southeast and mid-Atlantic over the weekend
> Heavy snow from the bomb cyclone that blanketed ice and snow from the previous winter storm is compounding cleanup and recovery efforts in some areas
> Arctic air that surged deep across Florida over the weekend is putting citrus and other crops at greater risk of freeze damage
> Intense cold is pushing energy demand higher across the eastern half of the country, with elevated heating costs expected through mid-February for millions of people
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AccuWeather® Global Weather Center – Feb. 2, 2026 - A powerful winter storm that rapidly intensified into a bomb cyclone off the East Coast this weekend, combined with impacts from a deep freeze that reached parts of central and south Florida, resulted in $13 billion to $15 billion in total damage and economic loss, according to a new preliminary estimate from AccuWeather expert meteorologists.
“This bomb cyclone is the latest costly setback amid a relentless stretch of cold, snowy, icy, and dangerous winter weather,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said. “Some communities have been struggling to clean up and fully rebound from the previous massive winter storm. Now they’re dealing with more costly disruptions and shutdowns. Dangerous cold that surged deeper into Florida is putting more crops and citrus groves at risk, driving losses even higher.”
This winter storm and deep freeze is the second multibillion-dollar weather disaster to impact the United States in the span of two weeks.
The historic winter storm, which brought snow, ice, freezing rain and dangerous cold impacts to more than 200 million people across dozens of states on Jan. 23-25, caused an estimated $105 billion to $115 billion in total damage and economic loss, according to AccuWeather expert meteorologists.
“This is the coldest and snowiest winter many people have endured in years and, in some places, decades. Schools and businesses have been shut down for days, and in some towns for a week or longer,” Porter said.
An unusually intense surge of Arctic air pushed deep into Florida over the weekend, bringing multiple nights of below-freezing temperatures into parts of the state, including areas that rarely experience a hard freeze.
AccuWeather expert meteorologists warn the freezing conditions could raise the risk of crop damage, including citrus and other sensitive agriculture, as well as pipes freezing and bursting and other cold-related impacts.
Intense and persistent cold has pushed energy demand higher and driven up heating bills for millions of Americans in January, with elevated costs likely to persist through mid-February for many.
Life-threatening conditions remain for thousands of people across Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana and other areas left without power and heat for more than a week in the wake of the winter storm.
“It is extremely troubling to see so many people still without power and heat, one week after the ice storm across the south. When temperatures drop well below freezing at night, the risk of hypothermia rises fast,” Porter explained. “People may turn to unsafe heating sources. That is also when carbon monoxide exposure can quietly become deadly.”
The AccuWeather preliminary estimate of total damage and economic loss is based on the current AccuWeather forecast across the region impacted by snow and bitter cold across the eastern United States. AccuWeather experts will continue to monitor the storm and its impacts and update its preliminary estimate over the coming days.
The AccuWeather preliminary estimate of total damage and economic loss accounts for damage to homes and businesses, disruptions to commerce and supply chain logistics, tourism losses, impacts to shipping operations at major hubs, financial losses from extended power outages, major travel delays, as well as damage to infrastructure. This is a preliminary estimate, as the storm effects continue to be felt and some areas have not yet reported complete information about damage, injuries and other impacts.
AccuWeather incorporates independent methods to evaluate all direct and indirect impacts of the storm, which include both insured and uninsured losses and are based on a variety of sources, statistics and unique techniques AccuWeather uses to estimate damage. It includes damage to property, job and wage losses, crops, infrastructure, interruption of the supply chain, auxiliary business losses and flight delays. The estimate also accounts for the costs of evacuations, relocations, emergency management and the extraordinary government expenses for cleanup operations and the long-term effects on business logistics, transportation and tourism, as well as the long-term and short-term health effects and the medical and other expenses of unreported deaths and injuries.
AccuWeather is the trusted source for total damage and economic loss estimates for weather disasters in the United States. Our recognized experts incorporate independent methods to evaluate all direct and indirect impacts of extreme weather events. In 2017, AccuWeather first issued a widely quoted preliminary estimate for total damage and economic loss during catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Harvey along the Gulf Coast, which helped people in the impacted area and across the country to better understand the magnitude of the disaster.
Additional AccuWeather® Resources:
Bomb cyclone delivers record snowfall across the Carolinas, Outer Banks
Polar vortex to keep frigid pattern locked over eastern US through much of February
Florida endures coldest conditions in decades
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