A bomb cyclone is a quickly intensifying storm. In most cases, the pressure must drop by 24 millibars in a 24-hour period. But that standard also takes the storm’s latitude into account. Therefore, depending on where the storm originates, the millibar may fluctuate. This week, a strong arctic winter storm that will deliver debilitating snow and subfreezing temperatures will pass over the US and Canada. Later this week, it is predicted to make landfall over the Great Lakes before developing into a “bomb cyclone” by early Friday.
Why is it called a bomb cyclone?
When describing how the storm formed, meteorologists used terms like “explosive cyclogenesis” and “bombogenesis” to compare the abrupt drop in pressure to a bomb going off. Despite what it may seem like, the word “bomb cyclone” is a real scientific term. University of California, Los Angeles, climate scientist Daniel Swain said one can look it up in the American Meteorological Society glossary that the term specifically refers to the speed at which a storm forms. “It doesn’t necessarily refer to the absolute strength of the storm system,” he added.
Bomb Cyclone vs. Hurricane
1. Warm oceans give hurricanes their energy, and they frequently originate in tropical regions. Due to the hottest saltwater, they are most prevalent in the summer or early fall. Bomb cyclones, on the other hand, don’t require warm ocean temperatures to develop. They can emerge over land as well as the water, as was the case with the cyclone that struck the northern Plains in March 2019.
2. Bomb cyclones, as opposed to hurricanes, develop at mid-latitudes when air fronts of both warm and cold temperatures may clash. Summer, when temperatures are typically warm throughout the Northern Hemisphere, is an uncommon time for them to occur. Instead, they develop in the period from late fall to early spring when warm tropical air collides with arctic air.
How dangerous Bomb cyclones are?
Bomb cyclones operate similarly to regular winter storms. However, on occasion they bring about significant flooding, blizzard conditions, and winds that are similar to a Category 1 hurricane. Fundamentally, according to Swain, a bomb cyclone’s effects are not necessarily different from those of other violent storm systems, with the exception that a storm system’s rapid intensification is typically an indicator of one that is extremely potent. He further said that according to media sources, bomb cyclones may catch individuals off guard, which adds to the danger.
