What is a bomb cyclone a.k.a. bombogenesis?

What is a bomb cyclone?

We hear the weather term bomb cyclone a lot these days. But it isn't new. Nick Gregory explains what it means and how this type of weather system impacts New York. Produced by Arun Kristian Das

NEW YORK - We do see bomb cyclones in the New York area. And what exactly is this bomb cyclone?

It seems like it's a new terminology. Actually, it's a terminology that comes out of the expression bombogenesis—a rapidly intensifying storm system.

Meteorologists going back into the '70s would say, "That storm is bombing out" because it's intensifying so quickly.

The energy inside that storm is exploding. You have a very rapid drop in pressure in the center part of the storm, very sharp increase in the wind speed around the storm.

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In our part of the country, the Northeast and metropolitan New York area, we have those bomb cyclones that are much more common when we go from the months of November right through even the months of March to the early part of April.

A lot of those also we refer to as nor'easters—same concept. It's the intensity of how rapidly developing the storm is, how quickly the pressure is falling, and the result is the increasing wind speed. And at times, these cyclones can produce winds of over hurricane-force—over 75 to 80 mph.

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