The latest in a series of potent non-tropical cyclones intensified explosively Tuesday night as it began moving through Alaska's Aleutian Islands. The storm has already brought measured wind gusts exceeding 90 mph at several locations in Alaska, causing considerable damage.
The storm, whose origins can be traced at least as far back as eastern China, brought rain and mountain snow to Japan earlier this week before racing northeastward over the northwest Pacific Ocean toward the Aleutians, a chain of islands extending so far west that some of them are in the Eastern Hemisphere.As it approached the far western Aleutians, it began undergoing a period of rapid intensification, as measured by its minimum central pressure – a key factor in determining the winds that a cyclone (tropical or non-tropical) can produce.
The central pressure fell from 992 millibars at 4 a.m. Alaska time Tuesday to 964 millibars at 4 a.m. Wednesday, a drop of 28 millibars in 24 hours. This qualifies the cyclone as a "bomb" – a term generally applied to a storm whose minimum pressure drops at least 24 millibars in 24 hours.
In recent years, some meteorologists have begun referring to the process of rapid intensification as "bombogenesis," mimicking the more generic meteorological term "cyclogenesis" used to denote the development of any low-pressure area, regardless of strength.
Current Enhanced Satellite
Peak Reported Wind Gusts
http://www.wunderground.com/news/aleutians-low-pressure-bombogenesis-alaska-november-11-2015
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