Winter storm may intensify and hit East Coast as bomb cyclone

Much of the East Coast is on high alert for another potentially powerful winter storm.

A weekend storm could intensify into a "bomb cyclone," with the potential for significant snow, strong winds and some coastal flooding from the Carolinas to New England, including areas still recovering from last weekend's snow and ice storm, according to Weather.com.

"There is an increasing risk for a rapidly strengthening coastal storm this weekend," said Carl Erickson, AccuWeather director of forecasting operations, in an email to USA TODAY. "Communities along the East Coast still digging out and cleaning up from last weekend’s storm could be hit again with more snow."

The best chance of heavier snowfall accumulations from the storm appear to be in two areas, said Weather.com meteorologist Jonathan Erdman in an online forecast:

According to the National Weather Service, "the ongoing consensus is for a heavy snow potential from theeastern Carolinas and coastal Mid-Atlantic through coastal southern/eastern New England."