(SOUTHERN COLORADO) — When you hear the term 'bomb cyclone,' your imagination may start moving in a hundred different directions. At the end of the day though, a bomb cyclone is simply a powerful low pressure system. What makes a bomb cyclone different, however, is the rapid intensification that occurs within it. A storm system needs to drop 24 millibars of pressure in 24 hours to be classified as one. The rapid drop in pressure allows the dynamics of the storm system to intensify rapidly and strengthen. Recently, on Tuesday, Nov. 19, a bomb cyclone developed off the coast of the pacific northwest and caused significant damage to portions of Oregon and Washington. Multiple trees were downed and two fatalities were reported. Reports from local officials say that those two fatalities were caused by falling trees. Winds were gusting up over 75 mph with significant flooding occurring in certain areas; half a million people were also reportedly without power. Colorado had its own bomb cyclone back in March of 2019. Bomb cyclones are far less common over land as the dynamics involved are not quite as favorable. The cyclone ended up producing widespread blizzard conditions with significant snowfall for the mountains. Impacts were largely due to icy roads, gusting winds, and low visibility. State officials reported roughly 1,500 stranded motorists with this event. The Colorado Springs Airport broke a record when it reported a wind gust of nearly 100 mph; Lamar broke the state record for the lowest pressure ever recorded at 970.4 mb. Colorado typically catches some of the downstream impacts from weather further west. The bomb cyclone that moved through Oregon and Washington may have a lingering influence on the weather Colorado will see next week, in an indirect way. Attached to the bomb cyclone, on its south side, is another phenomenon called an atmospheric river. An atmospheric river is a highly concentrated area of heavy rainfall. Some of the moisture from that current system, which is located on the north side of California, may translate up and over the Rocky Mountains the week of Thanksgiving. There are still a lot of uncertainties regarding how our Thanksgiving holiday may unfold here locally, but current thinking is that our weather may not fully cooperate. Be sure to stick with the FOX21 Storm Team for further updates as we get closer.