What the heck is a bomb cyclone?
Bomb cyclone : it sounds really cool, it’s actually kind of scary, and it’s headed your way. On Wednesday and Thursday, the intimidatingly-named winter storm is set to hit the East Coast with icy precipitation from Florida up into New England. But a name as apocalyptic as bomb cyclone begs explanation. How bad will this storm be, exactly? I mean, “bomb” is generally a qualifier you want attached to something like “ frostings ,” not “cyclone.” The phrase doesn’t refer to the storm itself. (The storm’s name is Grayson and you will refer to him as such.) Instead, 'bomb cyclone' refers to a phenomenon expected to occur as this weather event unfolds. The official term is explosive cyclogenesis, or bombogenesis which—in addition to being my new favorite word—is actually really common.