What is a 'bomb cyclone'? The weather term back in the spotlight as West Coast prepares for a storm

A powerful storm is bearing down on the West Coast and bringing with it a scary-sounding weather term. That term is bomb cyclone. Bomb cyclone is a term used by weather enthusiasts to describe a process that meteorologists usually call bombogenesis. It’s the rapid intensification of a cyclone in a short period of time, and it can happen during powerful storms such as the one northern California and the Pacific Northwest are preparing for this week. Some confusion surrounds what causes bombogenesis and what the term means.