"Bomb Cyclone" Blizzard

[footenote]

Anyone else in the path of this blizzard?

From NPR:
"A weather whiplash is predicted to hit people in the Rockies and Plains this week, as conditions go from balmy to blizzard overnight. The high is predicted to be around 80 degrees in Denver and other cities Tuesday — but within 24 hours, blizzard conditions are forecast, the National Weather Service says. ...

"For many central U.S. residents, the week began with warnings of a possible winter storm. But predictions now call for an April blizzard that could bring whiteout conditions. And because of the intense drop in pressure, the system could develop into the region's second bomb cyclone in less than a month."

Here in Central Minnesota the prediction is for about 12" of snow Thursday and Thursday night.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

Lifelong Minnesotan here. I've seen this all my life, it just gets more media attention now.


I'm at the "end of the road" about 18 miles from Canada. It's a sunny 40 degree morning here, pleasant so far.


My farm is down in the eye of the storm today in Southwestern MN, predicting 18" with 45 mph winds. What amazes me is the number of people who drive in it anyway.

 

[MRG]

It's supposed to give us couple inches of snow later today. It is very windy outside!

I don't think we're going to get much from this storm, most of our snow has melted at this altitude for now.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Yep, the weather terrorists (weather forecasters) have whipped up another frenzy of worry. Just started snowing here in the Twin Cities. Who knew it snows in Minnesota?

 

[razztazz]

Yep, the weather terrorists (weather forecasters) have whipped up another frenzy of worry. Just started snowing here in the Twin Cities. Who knew it snows in Minnesota?

Now that big Summer storms eg tornadoes, hurricanes, lightening/hail events are starting to seem routine, (maybe they are or maybe they've been made to seem that way by years of over-hype) I have noticed the past few years a weird focus on "killer" winter type storms. Naming snow storms a la hurricanes so they can be more feared I suppose? Creative use of language: bomb cyclone.

 

[Lcountz]

"Weather Terrorists" .... I like that!


I agree that the weather forecasters on SOME channels ( the WC mostly) like to get everyone worked up with the forecasts, using diagrams, charts, special effects under thier feet, bombastic yelling their reports,etc....


Combine that with the fact that EVERYTHING has to have some stupid name attached to it ( Because of what I call the "gimmick society" today) and you have a "Perfect Storm" ( no pun intended) of idiocracy when it comes to weather forecasting.


When I was younger ( 63 now), the weather was reported ( in the winter months- and that was a clue!) like this: "Chance of snow tonight and tomorrow, heavy at times. Temps in the 20s with blowing snow. If you don't HAVE to be out, stay in".


Today: breathless reporting in front of a wildly colored moving graphic..."The BOMB CYCLONE STORM (insert crazy made up name here) will PUMMEL the western states!!!! The barometer will plunge! Temperatures will hit the teens in some areas, and there will be wind!!! DO NOT GO OUT under ANY circumstances or you COULD blow away, freeze to death, get ice in your mustache, or have a heart attack when you hear "thunder snow!!!!" And WE at the Weather Channel will keep you up to date with live shots every ten minutes from 10 different locations where they are USED to snow storms, and who's local population won't watch or even care!!!


We will be dressed in our cool expensive weather survival gear to get the shot!!! We will shriek! We will become goggled with disbelief as we form a snow ball out of 2" of snow WITH OUR BARE HANDS!!!! We will lean into the 2 MPH wind as if we will be blown to Canada!!!!



We will faint with the sheer effort of getting the shot!!! And we will conclude, with exaggerated threats, with dire hints at the NEXT BIG STORM with it's silly name and ridiculous weather terms that might or might not happen, and that no one needs to know about so early because it hasn't even formed yet!!!!"


Anyone see the difference?

 

[Qs Laptop]

"Weather Terrorists" .... I like that!


We will be dressed in our cool expensive weather survival gear to get the shot!!! We will shriek! We will become goggled with disbelief as we form a snow ball out of 2" of snow WITH OUR BARE HANDS!!!! We will lean into the 2 MPH wind as if we will be blown to Canada!!!!



We will faint with the sheer effort of getting the shot!!! And we will conclude, with exaggerated threats, with dire hints at the NEXT BIG STORM with it's silly name and ridiculous weather terms that might or might not happen, and that no one needs to know about so early because it hasn't even formed yet!!!!"


Anyone see the difference?

You got it.

 

[GrayHare]

I foresee massive sodium chloride spills on area roads! Sodium reacts explosively with water, such as that in melting snow, and chlorine gas is so deadly it has been used in wartime to kill.

 

[Winemaker]

Whatever happened to the "Alberta Clippers" of the '70's? Did the acid rain eat them away?

 

[Odiedog]

We are very alarmed here. The snow was quickly melting off the golf course in Aspen and now it might take another week. Last year we were already golfing by now. What will we do? (besides ski on the tons of snow we still have on the mountains.)

The forecast shows sun and warmer weather by the weekend.......

 

[MichaelB]

Yep, the weather terrorists (weather forecasters) have whipped up another frenzy of worry. Just started snowing here in the Twin Cities. Who knew it snows in Minnesota?

Weather terrorists again? Did you sprinkle some extra hyperbole powder on your corn flakes this morning?

If you think the message is excessive it's pretty simple to change the channel. In any case, if you want to unleash your ire and wrath on someone, why choose the forecasters? They're doing their job. The station editors making the programming choices are the ones to whom you should direct your opinion.

 

[CaptTom]

If you think the message is excessive it's pretty simple to change the channel.

Actually, the BS and hype is one reason I don't watch ANY channel. I get my weather from the Windy app and a couple of others, and weather.gov.

That doesn't mean I'm never going to talk about how absurd the TV weather has become.

 

[Qs Laptop]

There are copious amounts of solid dihydrogen monoxide falling all over my lawn! What should I do?!!!

 

[MichaelB]

There are copious amounts of solid dihydrogen monoxide falling all over my lawn! What should I do?!!!

Collect some in a glass and add a bit of scotch?

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Whatever happened to the "Alberta Clippers" of the '70's? Did the acid rain eat them away?

To me, this is an astute observation. We used to get a string of clippers moving into the western Great Lakes in about mid-December. They brought bone-chilling cold with them but weren't really very powerful. The cycle was: 3 inches of snow, zero degrees, warm up to 20, another three inches of snow, back to zero.

In recent years most of the storms seem to come out of the Southwest, even in the early winter. They don't carry the bitter cold but they sure can blow. And they bring that heavy snow, not the powdery stuff that the clippers used to bring.

 

[Asher Aion]

Bracing ourselves. North of the border, we still have patches of white stuff on the ground.

What will we do.

 

[Maenad]

"Bomb cyclone" is a technical meteorological term, it's just that recently the various forms of media discovered it and are abusing its awesome name.

The ice on the lake I live on went out on Tuesday, just in time for the blizzard, so there's open water and ~6" of fresh snow, which is... weird. At least the temps will get warmer, and we won't end up with this heavy wet snow freezing into solid ice. It'll be gone in a few days at most.

And the immature bald eagles are out having a good time, they're fun to watch while I'm w*rking from home.

 

[footenote]

Our forecast for today (you know, usually: "Sunny" or "Mostly Cloudy") is "Blizzard."

Since blizzard-level winds won't die down until late afternoon, I'm gonna turn some leftover brisket into beef vegetable soup, read a good novel and order a few summer dresses.

(Maenad: Jealous of your eagle watching!)

 

[socca]

I agree that the weather forecasters on SOME channels ( the WC mostly) like to get everyone worked up with the forecasts, using diagrams, charts, special effects under thier feet, bombastic yelling their reports,etc....

A few years ago Florida was being stalked by a tropical storm. The Weather Channel decided that the available video was less than compelling, so they ran it at double speed. Sure enough, the palm trees were shown thrashing around nicely at that rate!

This WC hyperbole doesn't bother me too much. I just look at the raw data (radar screens and such) and ignore the dialogue. Major hurricanes are impressive meteorological phenomena that need no embellishment by weather disaster marketers.

 

[Sunset]

Bracing ourselves. North of the border, we still have patches of white stuff on the ground.

What will we do.

We are getting about 5 inches of snow so far today here in Chicago.

This is crazy for mid-April.

 

[BrianB]

It's melting quickly but this clip with a Twin Cities TV host on " Kelly and Ryan" pretty much sums up our feelings.

https://youtu.be/yYCGi7PyTTs

 

[GrayHare]

Whatever happened to the "Alberta Clippers" of the '70's? Did the acid rain eat them away?

I think the Clippers moved to LA.

Certain weather patterns have long cycles. Atmospheric circulation can get into patterns that endure for a decade or longer. Some of these are influenced by ocean temperatures and the 22-year solar cycle.

Climate warming at higher latitudes weakens the polar jet stream. When the jet stream is strong it tends to encircle and bottle up within polar regions the coldest of the cold. When the polar jet is weaker it meanders more, allowing a "polar vortex" to slide farther from the pole than usual. This permits the coldest cold to dip out of the polar region, while relatively warmer air pushes farther toward the pole.

 

[JoeWras]

"Bomb cyclone" is a technical meteorological term, it's just that recently the various forms of media discovered it and are abusing its awesome name.

It was a nice term we weather geeks kept to ourselves. In casual conversation, we love to throw around terms like bombogenesis. Seriously, I remember reading it as a kid (early 70s) in youth weather books. Later in my college meteorology classes, we discussed it. For some reason -- probably ratings and political hype -- it has become a new term to many.

We are getting about 5 inches of snow so far today here in Chicago.

This is crazy for mid-April.

Yes it is a bit crazy, but not unprecedented. Here's an official NWS list of Chicago April snows. https://www.weather.gov/lot/Chicago_Apr_Snow_Rankings

Notice the cluster in the 70s and early 80s. I lived there and remember them all somewhat fondly. (1975 - 10.0 in; 1970 - 10.7 in; 1982 - 10.6 in)