What is a bomb cyclone?
We had a bomb cyclone in Nebraska just this year (2019)! The Omaha World Herald wrote a very-easy to understand article about it that defined it as “A storm with extraordinarily low pressure, measured by a rapid and sharp drop in atmospheric pressure.” Our bomb cyclone created a huge blizzard, plus heavy rain, which resulted in massive flooding and led to 2/3 of all counties in Nebraska being declared Federal Disaster areas! Apparently this type of phenomenon happens about once a year somewhere in the United States.
https://www.omaha.com/weather/what-exactly-is-a-bomb-cyclone-here-are-some-answers/article_483106d5-fda9-51df-9f1b-6533173284f0.html
Bombogenesis” is a combination of cyclogenesis, which describes the formation of a cyclone or storm, and bomb, which is, well, pretty self-explanatory. “This can happen when a cold air mass collides with a warm air mass, such as air over warm ocean waters,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.Mar 13, 2019
The ominous name “bomb cyclone” comes from a process called explosive cyclogenesis, or bombogenisis, in which a weather system undergoes a rapid drop in pressure.
Bombogenesis occurs when a midlatitude cyclone rapidly intensifies, dropping at least 24 millibars in 24 hours. It happens very suddenly, thus being referred to as “Bomb Cyclones”. It usually involves rain, wind and snow. Its much like a hurricane, which generally starts from the South, whereas Bomb Cyclones usually develop towards the North, thus affecting USA.
