#bomb-cyclone

#bomb-cyclone

While cold-stunned iguanas fall from trees in Florida and videos circulate of frozen "exploding" trees in the Northeast, Southern California is working up a sweat. A midwinter heat wave has descended on much of the state and is expected to spike temperatures as much as 20 degrees above normal in the coming week. The summer-like heat is thanks to a ridge of high pressure lingering high in the atmosphere that extends through the San Francisco Bay Area and into the Pacific Northwest.

Hundreds of students at multiple East Bay high schools staged a walkout Wednesday in protest of ICE. The students assembled in a parking lot in San Leandro around 10 am this morning. [KTVU] The developer behind the Bishop Ranch complex in San Ramon has revealed plans for 8.400 new homes to be built thaere, following the departure of Chevron from its offices. [Chronicle]

According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, certain storms undergo bombogenesis, which happens when a storm's central pressure drops at least 24 millibars in 24 hours. These storms are sometimes called bomb cyclones. Storm intensity is measured by central pressure, so the lower the pressure, the stronger the storm. Such rapidly strengthening storms are capable of producing heavy rain, blizzard conditions and intense winds that can create dangerous conditions such as downed trees and power outages.