#bombogenesis

Since all the TV weather folk are hyperventilating about the “bomb cyclone” that is expected to throw a huge swath of the country into the deep freeze – or worse – in the next 24 hours, I figured this would be a good opportunity for a quick Word of the Day (to give you something to do while you’re busy freezing to death or waiting for the power to go out…or come back on).

The Word of the Day is “bomb cyclone.” (Yes, I know that’s two words. Humor me.) It appears the term was coined, or at least popularized, in 1980 by MIT professor Fred Sanders and his colleague John Gyakum. They wrote a research paper that used the catchy (and scary) term for a meteorological phenomenon known as “bombogenesis,” sometimes also known as “explosive cyclogenesis.”

Basically, it all refers to a very rapid decrease in air pressure at the center of a storm (a decrease of at least 24 millibars within 24 hours, for all you weather geeks). When the pressure drops like that, meteorologists say the rapidly intensifying storm “bombs out.” And the results can be explosive, indeed, including heavy snow, fierce winds, power outages, torrential rain and flooding. The bomb cyclone can also bring with it dramatic drops in temperature – 40 or 50 degrees in a matter of hours. Kaboom!

Excerpt from this story from Mother Nature Network:

The word "bombogenesis" is more than a potentially great name for your next band; it's also a cool weather term you may have heard being thrown around by meteorologists. But what exactly is it?

A bombogenesis or bomb cyclone, is used to describe an extreme drop in pressure of 24 millibars in 24 hours. These rapidly strengthening storms occur when a large temperature gradient is formed between a cold continental mass of air and warm sea-surface temperatures. These air masses mix to form what's called an "extratropical cyclone," with cold air at its core deriving energy from the mixing of hot and cold air masses around it.

These storms commonly happen along the East Coast — nor'easters in particular are often formed through the process of bombogenesis — but that's not the only place they occur. Currently, New England is under threat with the possibility of tropical storm-force winds, reports CNN. That follows a coastal storm that swept through just last week, meaning the additional rain, high winds and heavy flooding are likely to cause problems from Cape Cod up through Canada.