The worst storm to strike the Canadian Maritime provinces as well as Newfoundland in at least 10 years is now underway, with blizzard conditions, winds potentially exceeding 100 miles per hour, and 45 foot waves beginning to batter the region.

Halifax, a city in Nova Scotia with about 400,000 residents, was all but shut down on Wednesday, leading to scenes of wind-whipped snow drifting down empty streets. Winds have been recorded above 100 miles per hour off the coast of Maine and Nova Scotia, indicating the force of the fury heading toward Halifax and other parts of Atlantic Canada.

As expected, the storm intensified at astonishing rates on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, with a drop in atmospheric pressure at the storm’s center of 43 millibars in less than 24 hours. This meets the criteria of rapid intensification known as “bombogenesis,” which only requires a drop in pressure of 24 millibars in 24 hours.

Also as forecast, the storm merely sideswiped much of the U.S. East Coast, dealing Cape Cod and the Islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket the harshest blow. On the Cape and Nantucket, blizzard conditions verified early on Wednesday, with more than three straight hours with winds above 35 miles per hour and visibility at or below one-quarter mile in heavy snow.

At 11 a.m. on Wednesday, winds on Nantucket were sustained at 48 miles per hour, gusting to 82 miles per hour, which is above hurricane force (74 miles per hour). Blizzard conditions are also expected for portions of far northeastern Maine. A buoy off the northeast coast of Maine, in the Bay of Fundy, recorded a gust to 119 miles per hour at 2 p.m., which is equivalent to a Category Three hurricane.

Minor to moderate coastal flooding was reported in extreme southeastern Massachusetts, but since the storm struck in a period of low astronomical tides, the coast was spared a serious flooding problem. At least one home, which was undergoing renovations, was destroyed in Chatham, Mass., according to WCVB-TV.

@EricHolthaus @RyanMaue Category 3 hurricane wind gusts observed. pic.twitter.com/4fYFRLTOSw

— Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) March 26, 2014

The Canadian version of The Weather Channel, called The Weather Network, had to ditch magenta and create a new map color, white, to denote the strong winds likely to hit parts of the three maritime provinces on Wednesday and Thursday.

The storm is being compared to the so-called “White Juan" snow storm that struck in 2004. It is expected to be more intense than that storm, in terms of its winds, snowfall rates, and storm surge, but it is moving much faster than that storm did. This will help limit snowfall totals to one to two feet, rather than the three-foot totals recorded during the 2004 event.

You know it's serious when the Tim Horton's is closed. #atlstorm #Dartmouth pic.twitter.com/q6CRmPoN1W

— Rebecca Lau (@RebeccaLau) March 26, 2014

The Weather Network has been live-streaming its storm coverage on Wednesday, and the live shots of its correspondents show a rapidly deteriorating situation in Halifax, with blinding snow and increasingly fierce wind gusts.

Image: NOAA/National Buoy Data Center.

Given that the storm is still lashing Cape Cod, where blizzard warnings have been extended until 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Canada still has a long way to go before this storm peaks and subsides.

Halifax in the fun zone now. RT @NatashaPace: Downtown #Halifax right now. Visibility extremely poor. #atlstorm https://t.co/2wHnVmv5c3

— Tim Ballisty (@IrishEagle) March 26, 2014

In fact, parts of the Canadian Maritimes, including Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, will still feel the impacts of this storm through Friday.

Picture: MT @MMA_Nantucket: #blizzard on Maine St in Nantucket, MA #Noreaster #mawx pic.twitter.com/YkumDIsA0P

— Johnny Kelly (@stormchaser4850) March 26, 2014

As Mashable reported on Tuesday, this storm intensified so rapidly because of a rare combination of atmospheric disturbances and sea surface temperature anomalies. The waters of the Gulf stream are warmer than average, while ocean temperatures just north of the Gulf Stream are cooler than average.

In addition, the eastern U.S. has seen record cold temperatures during the past several days. When this cold air flows over relatively warm ocean waters, it causes the atmosphere to destabilize, and encourages the formation of low pressure areas.

Image: Weatherbell.com

In this case, the sharp air and sea temperature gradients proved to be an ideal breeding ground for a nor’easter “bomb” of a storm. Based on its minimum central pressure, this storm is unusually intense, and probably occurs about once every 10 to 20 years in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean.

This is the strongest East Coast nor'easter since at least 1993, based on minimum central pressure, and it may even exceed that storm's intensity. However, the 1993 storm affected the entire East Coast, whereas this one took a different track.

Because global warming is increasing global average sea surface temperatures, it is possible that rapidly intensifying storms may become more frequent in the future, due to the increased sea surface temperature gradients.