You will find, Dave, if you take a quick look on Google, that the term
explosive deepening is used for a specific rate of deepening of a
depression. It is a term that has been in use for many years by
meteorologists, and is generally accepted as a good way to describe this
type of rapid development. The term 'bomb' is also sometimes used, as also
has strict criteria to be met when using this description.
See:
http://storm.uml.edu/~colby/blizzard.pdf
and for the tropics:
'Explosive Deepening A decrease in the minimum sea-level pressure of a
tropical cyclone of 2.5 mb/hr for at least 12 hours or 5 mb/hr for at least
6 hours.'

--
Bernard Burton
Wokingham, Berkshire, UK.

Satellite images at:
www.woksat.info/wwp.html
or
www.btinternet.com/~wokingham.weather/wwp.html



"Dave R." wrote in message
news:5tydnWL4NfYu85nVnZ2dnUVZ8h-dnZ2d@plusnet...
A friend of mine was laughing at the use of the word *explosively* to
describe a deepening low on one of the forecasts. I'd never heard of this
usage for a deepening low before I must admit, in my book I was more akin
to
regular use of the word *rapidly* deepening. Obviously the modern
terminology is changing, possibly due to Dan Corbett. (not that he was the
one that used the word *explosively*) Perhaps it could be used only on
November 5th. To enhance my point I notice Darren Prescott has used this
word this morning in his daily Weather Interpretation model runs. to
quote:
and on Friday the winds become ENE'lies as low pressure deepens
explosively
NW of Iberia.

When you stop and muse the word over and over in your mind it sounds
pretty
riduclous to describe a deepening low in this fashion. I could see the
future using such termninology moving on to even more distant descriptions
such as an *immoraly* deepening low. In the year 2020 or even sooner we
could set a new word "as low pressure deepens *maliciously* NW of Iberia
!" - actually that sounds pretty cool don't you think
--
resident BBC shill and media sentry:
t'wit "DaveR" [westLondon]