VOA慢速英語：什么是“炸彈旋風”?

What Is a 'Bomb Cyclone?'

什么是“炸彈旋風”?

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這里是今日熱點節(jié)目。

When it comes to weather, it is hard to sound more frightening than to call a storm a "bomb cyclone."

談到天氣，很難聽到什么比“炸彈旋風”更可怕的了。

But that is how weather experts are describing a huge winter storm that is hitting the U.S. East Coast this week.

但是氣象專家正以此形容本周正在沖擊美國東海岸的一場冬季大風暴。

From the northern state of Maine to Georgia in the south, the storm has brought high winds and heavy snow. Schools and government offices have closed because of the weather and thousands of flights have been cancelled.

從北部的緬因州到南部的喬治亞州，這場風暴帶來了狂風和暴雪。學校和政府部門因為天氣原因關門，還有數(shù)千趟航班被取消。

But as fearsome as the storm is, it probably will not be as "explosive" as the name sounds.

但是雖然風暴很可怕，它可能卻沒有這個名字聽上去那么“具有爆炸性”。

Weather experts, or meteorologists, have used the term "bomb" for storms for many years. The word has a clear definition for weather experts, says University of Oklahoma meteorology professor Jason Furtado.

氣象學家多年來一直把“炸彈旋風”這個術語用于表示風暴。俄克拉荷馬大學氣象學教授Jason Furtado表示，對氣象學家來說，這個詞有著明確定義。

After "bomb cyclone" appeared in a Washington Post story this week, the weather term became popular, or "blew up," on social media. It became a top trending topic. The same thing happened four years ago with the phrase "polar vortex" -- another long-used weather term that was not well known to the public.

在本周《華盛頓郵報》的一則新聞中出現(xiàn)“炸彈旋風”之后，這個氣象術語在社交媒體上流行開來，成為了一個熱門話題。同樣的情況發(fā)生在4年前，當時是“基地漩渦”這個詞語，這是另一個不為公眾熟知的長期使用的氣象術語。

The technical term is "Bombogenesis." Bomb cyclone is a shorter way of saying it, which is better for social media, says meteorologist Ryan Maue. He helped popularize "polar vortex" in 2014.

氣象學家Ryan Maue表示，專業(yè)術語是“Bombogenesis”，炸彈旋風是它的簡稱，當然這個簡稱更適合社交媒體。他在2014年幫助“基地漩渦”這個術語得到了普及。

Although "bomb cyclone" sounds bad, Maue notes, nothing will actually explode.

雖然“炸彈旋風”聽上去不是什么好事，但是Maue指出，沒有什么會真的爆炸。

Storm strength is measured by central pressure. The lower the pressure, the stronger it is. A storm is considered a "bomb" when the pressure drops quickly -- at least 24 mililbars in 24 hours.

暴風強度是通過中心氣壓來衡量的。中心壓力越低，風暴越強。當一場風暴的中心氣壓迅速下降 -- 在24小時內至少下降24毫巴(百帕)，它就被認為是“炸彈旋風”。

This week's storm in the United States is expected to strengthen at two times that rate, says Bob Oravec. He is the lead forecaster at the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center.

Bob Oravec表示，美國本周的風暴預計以該速度的兩倍增強。Oravec是美國國家氣象局天氣預報中心的首席預報員。

Around the world, about 40 to 50 bomb cyclones develop each year. However, most are over the open ocean and few people notice them.

全球每年大約會爆發(fā)四五十個“炸彈旋風”。然而，其中大多數(shù)位于公海之上，很少有人會注意到它們。

"We use the term bomb," Furtado said. "We (weather experts) know what it means, but I do think it gets a little hyped up."

Furtado表示：“我們使用‘炸彈旋風’這個術語，我們氣象專家懂它的意思，但我確實認為它有點夸張。”

I'm Mario Ritter.

我是馬里奧·里特。