Storm Amy: The 'weather bomb' that's going to RUIN your weekend

"Experts warn that Storm Amy could become a 'weather bomb' - a storm that intensifies suddenly and rapidly, at an explosive rate. A weather bomb can mean sudden violent winds of hurricane-force strength, heavy rain and flooding and potential 'storm surges' - huge walls of seawater by the coast. It will mean travel disruption, power outages and dangerous conditions, especially along coastlines and hills, lasting from Friday evening into Saturday."

"'The low-pressure system that will become Storm Amy has only started to develop in the west Atlantic,' he told the Daily Mail. 'The storm is accompanied by a large amount of precipitable water - which is essentially water vapour. 'Due to how the air moves around the storm, not only circling around but also ascending, some of that moisture will become a considerable amount of rainfall.'"

"Dr Martinez-Alvarado explains that a weather bomb is a storm that not only develops very fast, but one in which the air pressure at its centre falls quickly. 'This usually means the central pressure falls by about 24 millibars in 24 hours, though the exact threshold varies with latitude,' he said. 'Forecasts suggest Amy could deepen by around 40 millibars in the 24 hours before it reaches us, which would make it fast-developing and potentially dangerous."

Storm Amy is expected to intensify rapidly and could meet criteria for a weather bomb, producing steep central pressure falls well beyond typical thresholds. Rapid deepening could generate hurricane-force winds, intense rainfall, flooding, coastal storm surges, travel disruption and power outages from Friday evening into Saturday. The developing low-pressure system over the west Atlantic contains a large amount of precipitable water that can convert into considerable rainfall as air circulates and ascends within the storm. Jet stream-driven rapid acceleration aloft can remove mass from the atmospheric column, reducing sea-level pressure and drawing in surrounding air to intensify the system.

Read at Mail Online