A powerful storm, known as a bomb cyclone, slammed into the United States and Canada, causing a series of road accidents that tragically led to the loss of over 30 lives.

What is a Bomb Cyclone?

• It is a mid-latitude cyclone that intensifies rapidly.
• It is a massive winter storm hammering the coast, bringing strong winds, flooding, ice and snow.
• It is a combination of rapidly declining pressure and extreme cold.
• This particular storm is the most explosive ever, observed on the east coast.
• It is called bomb cyclone, a dramatic name for what happens when the storm explosively strengthens while the pressure plummets.
• It begins in the temperate latitudes and strengthens fast, with the atmospheric pressure at its center dropping swiftly, a process now called “Bombogenesis.”

What is Bombogenesis?

• The word “Bombogenesis” is a combination of cyclogenesis, which describes the formation of a cyclone or storm, and bomb.
• This can happen when a cold air mass collides with a warm air mass, such as air over warm ocean waters.
• It occurs when a midlatitude cyclone rapidly intensifies, dropping at least 24 millibars over 24 hours.
• Bombogenesis is fairly common in the Pacific Ocean region because there is enough water surface area for strengthening.
• It has happened a few times on the Atlantic coastline; however, it is not as common there.

How is a Bomb Cyclone Formed?

• Principal mechanism for its formation has been cited as baroclinic instability.
• There are complex processes happening in the deeper layers of the atmosphere that contribute to the cyclone, both before and after it forms.
• The way the air and the sea interact has a big impact on the cyclone’s development.
• Heat is released when water vapor in the air turns into liquid, and this plays a role in the cyclone’s strength.

In which region does a Bomb Cyclone occur?

There are four active regions which are hot spots for Bomb Cyclone:

• The Northwest Pacific
• The Northern region of the Atlantic Ocean
• The Southwest Pacific
• The Southern region of the Atlantic Ocean

People are talking about the possibility of bomb cyclones hitting new areas because of climate change. More explosive cyclones are happening in specific regions: North of the Atlantic Gulf Stream, Western Pacific, Eastern coast of Australia in the Southern Hemisphere. Cyclones that rapidly intensify below 50°S often move towards the equator. This is different from most Northern Hemisphere cyclones, which usually move towards the poles.

Read Also: Cyclone Season in Indian Climate