What you need to know about the northeast’s ‘bomb cyclone’ If you live on the East Coast you are probably feeling the effects of a massive winter storm that is being labeled as a ‘Bomb Cyclone.’ What is it exactly? A bomb cyclone is formed when the air pressure at the center of a storm drops very rapidly. The lower the pressure,
the stronger the storm. The barometric pressure must drop by at least 24 millibars in 24 hours for a storm to be called a bomb cyclone. The ‘bomb’ verbiage originates from the term ‘Bombogenesis,’ which is the technical term that the meteorologists use to define the cyclone. Bomb cyclones can carry hurricane-force winds
and cause heavy snow.