Bomb Cyclone

Bomb Cyclone Latest News

A powerful “bomb cyclone” barreled across the northern United States recently, triggering severe winter weather in the Midwest and the East Coast.

About Bomb Cyclone

• It is a large midlatitude storm resulting from explosive cyclogenesis (or, informally, bombogenesis), a type of accelerated extratropical cyclone development in which surface pressure falls substantially over a 24-hour period.
• In structure, a bomb cyclone is indistinguishable from any other intense midlatitude storm.
  • The center of the storm is a low-pressure cell (or cyclone) that draws winds near the surface inward.
• However, a bomb cyclone is set apart by its rapid rate of intensification. The intensification required to classify as “bombogenesis” varies by latitude.
  • For example, at 60 degrees latitude, the requirement is 24 millibars in 24 hours.
  • Around 40 degrees latitude, a storm only has to intensify by 17.8 millibars in 24 hours.
• Bomb cyclones are often associated with atmospheric rivers and typically form in winter when cold and warm air masses collide.
• The four most active regions where extra-tropical explosive cyclogenesis occurs in the world are
  • the Northwest Pacific,
  • the North Atlantic,
  • the Southwest Pacific, and
  • the South Atlantic
• The precipitation associated with a bomb cyclone is intense, ranging from heavy downpours to strong thunderstorms to blizzards and heavy snowfalls, along with strong winds.

Source: IE

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