Today, coastal regions of New South Wales are going through a "cyclone bomb", a term I haven't heard until now.

A day like this used to be called a cold, wet and windy winters day.

But these days it is a "cyclone bomb".

I wonder if tomorrow someone at the BoM will have egg on their face?

Why is this language being used? Is it to stoke climate fears into people?

And at the other end of the scale the Bureau Of Meteorology now calls all summer days "Sunny", "Mostly Sunny", "Partly Cloudy" or "Cloudy".

Even if the temperature gets into the 40's.

Up until a few years ago, days like this were called "Hot", "Very Hot" and even "Extremely Hot".

I suspect it may have something to do with stupid people blaming the Bureau when they suffer through hot days.

"The Bureau said it was going to be hot. It was hot so it must be their fault".  :D

A few well known TV news weather presenters also had this same problem years ago.

MattE wrote on Jul 1^st, 2025 at 12:25pm:

Today, coastal regions of New South Wales are going through a "cyclone bomb", a term I haven't heard until now. A day like this used to be called a cold, wet and windy winters day. But these days it is a "cyclone bomb". I wonder if tomorrow someone at the BoM will have egg on their face? Why is this language being used? Is it to stoke climate fears into people?

I just read that recently too! I was puzzled at the bomb word!
Sure gets the click baits happening!  ::)

Many years ago, Adelaide experienced its first "bomb" from the weather bureau. They were forced to explain the term about an extremely cold weather front crossing the gulf off shore.  Their explanation was that they used the term to warn the public about the equivalent force of the front which was equivalent to several atomic bombs because they were fed up with being blamed when one of these fronts occurred and they were ignored and people needed rescuing.  So, obviously their feelings have reached bureau-wide and the term is in general use.  Tsk, tsk, tsk... ::) ::)

Well I heard no explosion. So obviously a poor use of a word.

bombogenesis

/bɒmbəˈdʒɛnɪsɪs/

noun Meteorology

a phenomenon or process in which there is rapid and sustained falling of barometric pressure in the centre of a low-pressure system, indicative of its strengthening into a powerful storm.


bombogenesis

rapid intensification of a storm caused by a sudden and significant drop in atmospheric pressure : the development or intensification of a bomb cyclone

MattE wrote on Jul 1^st, 2025 at 12:25pm:

Today, coastal regions of New South Wales are going through a "cyclone bomb", a term I haven't heard until now. A day like this used to be called a cold, wet and windy winters day. But these days it is a "cyclone bomb". I wonder if tomorrow someone at the BoM will have egg on their face? Why is this language being used? Is it to stoke climate fears into people?

It was just a rainy wet day here nothing like what they claimed it would be.

In some parts they call 30 deg C a heatwave

Baronvonrort wrote on Jul 1^st, 2025 at 5:05pm:

MattE wrote on Jul 1st, 2025 at 12:25pm: Today, coastal regions of New South Wales are going through a "cyclone bomb", a term I haven't heard until now. A day like this used to be called a cold, wet and windy winters day. But these days it is a "cyclone bomb". I wonder if tomorrow someone at the BoM will have egg on their face? Why is this language being used? Is it to stoke climate fears into people? It was just a rainy wet day here nothing like what they claimed it would be. In some parts they call 30 deg C a heatwave

It seems that they always exaggerate in order to prevent potential legal problems.

Back in 2010, here in Perth, we had a very destructive hail storm and we were only given an hour's warning by the BOM.

Buildings and cars all over the metropolitan area were severely damaged, and insurance companies were looking for someone to blame (as usual).

Since then, they seem to predict the end of the world just to be safe.

I remember that storm well, Greg.

I was working at AMF (now Zone Bowling) Joondalup that day. When I finished at 3pm, I went outside and saw the black storm clouds coming down from the north/northwest so I got in the car and tore down the freeway. Made it home to Rivervale about 30 minutes before it started pouring down.

We didn't get the hailstones in Rivervale from memory. Thank goodness.

Carl D wrote on Jul 1^st, 2025 at 5:45pm:

I remember that storm well, Greg. I was working at AMF (now Zone Bowling) Joondalup that day. When I finished at 3pm, I went outside and saw the black storm clouds coming down from the north/northwest so I got in the car and tore down the freeway. Made it home to Rivervale about 30 minutes before it started pouring down. We didn't get the hailstones in Rivervale from memory. Thank goodness.

I was the opposite - I was working in the city and living in Joondalup.

I left the office at about 2.30 PM and made it home without any damage to the car.

However, upon opening the front door I was greeted with a house full of collapsed ceilings   :(

Oh look, it's raining bombs.

I remember that storm, so do my kids.  Whenever a storm occurs, they say, "not as bad as the big storm!"  I left work at 4pm and had no warning.  I know what hail storms could do, so I pulled under a roadside tree and sheltered there and was saved from gross damage to my car.  On the way home up the freeway took three times as long as usual and I was near Osborne when the lightning struck - scared the crap out of me!  There was one lightning strike just off the freeway near where I was.  I was traveling at about 25km/h, the traffic was nose to tail, I could barely see the rear lights of the car in front of me, the rain was so dense.  My kids were already home from school so were spared the worse, their school wasn't, it ended up being closed for 3 months, lacking a roof. I eventually made it home, I was very thankful to have made it!

There's a cyclone in the Tasman sea bombing NSW

The BOM is saying it is not a cyclone or a cyclone bomb. Not sure if that is even a term they use. But there will be strong winds. I think it is too diffuse a weather pattern to be called a cyclone.

There's always strong winds down here in South Coastal NSW.
Mixed with rain, it's nothing out of the ordinary as the only offset to an otherwise perfect temperate climate here.
...oh, besides a tornado 🌪️ that ripped through Merimbula like 50 years ago.

NSW weather live updates: Around 35,000 without power as bomb cyclone lashes Hunter region, Sydney and South Coast :o

Pressure and peak winds of weather system off NSW coast equivalent to category 1 cyclone :o

It's BOM's way of saying "We have no idea."

Just had the power down overnight - generator going... works a charm on high octane petrol....

The Old Girl - after the usual initial rejection of this grand idea - said - the moment the power went down - "We're getting that battery on the solar!"

Even the electrician up the road said he's had enough of the power outages.

$6400 for a fitted 20.7KwH battery and bigger inverter.  what it means is that during overload time, our system runs the house, thus relieving the grid system outside, and when the power cuts out, the house goes onto battery anyway... may even be on battery until line power is needed.  20 is pretty big .. at least a day or two for us - yep - nearly two days without power demand.

In summer that will fill up in no time flat from our big roof system.

Not worried about cost - get it back on sale of house anyway - virtually zero account.

Quote:

Even the electrician up the road said he's had enough of the power outages.

Does he make more or less money out of them?

freediver wrote on Jul 2^nd, 2025 at 5:33pm:

Quote: Even the electrician up the road said he's had enough of the power outages. Does he make more or less money out of them?

Less I think - he was home today all day and stuff doesn't cop much damage from the power simply going down.  He gets plenty of work around here.  fitted up our kitchen and generator and over the road's generator.

Got a revised quote for 20.72 KW of batteries - TWO batteries @ 10+Kw each instead of one..... bit of redundancy - if ones goes down the other lives - meaning the existing inverter can be used.... and $4599.  We use 10-12 a day - two days reserve there and not much of a bill beyond connection.

I'm in while the government has money to throw - $2.3Bn and that will run out fast, I'd say.  If we join a PP something or other and put power back in from batteries at peak times they pay us again ... we're part of the grid.  Cunning Labor - talking up all their 'renewables' while cunningly getting the commoners to put in since they KNOW the plans won't work fully in the end.

The Old Girl didn't even want to get panels on the roof - once I got them anyway she was all for it once the bill came in - this power failure was the last straw, though the generator only used about an inch of petrol for 2-3 hours.  Probably could get 8-10 hours out of it now that it's run in and running on 98..

Perhaps they should stick to the technical terms.

This process is called ‘explosive cyclogenesis’, also known as ‘explosive bombogenesis’ and sometimes referred to as a ‘bomb low’, ‘bombing low’, or ‘bomb cyclone’.
https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/what-makes-an-east-coast-low-a-bomb-cyclone/1890700

So a bigger one would be called a nuke?

Quote:

I'm in while the government has money to throw - $2.3Bn and that will run out fast, I'd say.

What money is that?