A 'bomb cyclone' takes aim at New York and Boston, brings rain and strong winds up to 70 mph - NBC News

The Bronx Bombers gave way for a "bomb cyclone" that's dropping on the mid-Atlantic.

An unseasonably strong Nor’easter brought high winds and rain to the New York-to-Boston corridor Wednesday, forcing the American League playoff game between the New York Yankees and the Houston Astros to be called off hours before the first pitch.

Meteorologists are forecasting this storm to go through “bombogenesis,” meaning it will drop 24 millibars in pressure in 24 hours, leading to a "bomb cyclone." These systems are typically characterized by intense winds, heavy rain and dangerous surf.

The "rapidly intensifying coastal storm" was in southern New England early Thursday and expected to bring heavy rainfall and gusting winds to the region through the day before it moves into eastern Canada, the weather service warned.

An inch-and-a-half of rain was recorded in the Staten Island borough of New York City as of 10 p.m. Wednesday, and other parts of the city got more than an inch, the National Weather Service said in a statement, citing unofficial observations.

Utility company Consolidated Edison said it was ready to handle any power outages caused by the weather in and around the city. Early Thursday, there were around 5,000 customers without power in the city and in the northern suburbs, according to the utility's website.

A high wind warning was in place for the city as well as in southern Connecticut and coastal Massachusetts early Thursday. In Amityville on Long Island, an empty building collapsed in the storm. Police said there were no injuries and no damage to other buildings in the area.

In Boston, winds gusted at 70 mph at Logan International Airport early Thursday, and a gust of 88 mph was recorded at Yarmouth on Cape Cod, the National Weather Service said. Forecasters said that the region could get more than 2 inches of rain.

More than 187,000 customers were without power across Massachusetts early Thursday, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency online outage map, with some of the largest outages northeast and southeast of the Boston area.

The Massachusetts State Police tweeted that it responded to "numerous reports of trees and some utility wires down" along the Interstate 90 corridor from Springfield to Deerfield, including some cases in which roads were blocked.

The Yankees and the Astros were supposed to play Game 4 of the American League Championship Series at 8:08 p.m. Thursday in the Bronx before the cancellation was announced at about noon.

Now, Game 4 will be pushed back to Thursday at 8:08 p.m., while Game 5 was rescheduled for 7:08 p.m. Friday, the team announced.

Houston leads the best-of-seven series, 2-1.