Powerful Atlantic Coast-to-Coast Storm Threatens Spring Break

An unusually large storm responsible for this past week’s record late March snow has moved over to the North Atlantic just in time for spring break.
The enormous storm, which stretches coast-to-coast from Newfoundland to Portugal, is not only overwhelming in size but very intense.  Its central pressure is 953 millibars, carrying the force of a Category 3 hurricane.
With some of the storm’s waves measuring as high as 30 to 40 feet, it has grown into a monster extending as far as the Caribbean since its original humble beginnings.
In the past two days, the storm has grown powerful enough to draw record low temperatures in the Southeast United States, including Florida and the Florida Keys.
From where it began in the Midwest to where it blanketed the Mid-Atlantic with snow, the massive storm is now in a pocket of Greenland and Eastern Canada cold air and the mild Gulf Stream air.  This disparity in temperature has enhanced the storm’s strength.
As it moves towards Western Europe, the strength of the storm has already began to weaken slightly.  Over the next few days, it will break up into several systems that will travel into Europe.  These particular storms are not expected to be unusually strong, as they approach Portugal by next Wednesday.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/03/powerful-atlantic-coast-to-coast-storm-threatens-spring-break/