It's time to prepare for heavy snow this weekend as a rapidly intensifying winter storm arrives.

A nor'easter low-pressure system is expected to move in from the Atlantic later this week and hit the cold air in the region causing the bomb cyclone. The storm, named Winter Storm Gianna by The Weather Channel, is still hard to predict as specific details remain uncertain.

A weekend storm could bring significant snow, strong winds and flooding in some areas of the US. Is Ohio in its path? See the weather forecast.

(THE CONVERSATION) A bomb cyclone is a large, intense midlatitude storm that has low pressure at its center, weather fronts and an array of associated weather, from blizzards to severe thunderstorms to heavy precipitation.

A winter weather system moving through the eastern U.S. could reorganize into a strong coastal storm off the East Coast later this weekend.

Massachusetts is still recovering from a major snowstorm that dumped over 2 feet of snow in some communities at the end of last weekend. But forecasters say the state might be in for another significant snowstorm just a week later.

The storm could form just days after Winter Storm Fern slammed into the same area

About 240 million people are under cold weather advisories and winter storm warnings as a powerful system threatens to bring howling winds, flooding and heavy snow to the East Coast