It's like "bomb cyclone" or "firenado." It seems like the sort of phenomenon that would be responsible for the record-breaking blast of cold, snow and wintry conditions that reached all the way to the Gulf Coast this week.

Major winter storm brings heavy snow to East Coast as Arctic blast puts millions under warnings from Plains to Maine

Marc Chenard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in College Park Maryland, projected that as many as 70 million residents will be under some kind of winter storm wa