Winter Storm Ulmer 'Bombs' Out, Becomes 'Bomb Cyclone'

This bomb cyclone tied or set preliminary, unofficial all-time low-pressure records in at least four locations.

Pueblo, Colorado, set its preliminary, unofficial all-time record-low pressure early Wednesday morning, March 13, according to the National Weather Service. Colorado state climatologist Russ Schumacher tweeted it was the lowest pressure on record there since at least 1950.

Roth, who tracks U.S. pressure records, also noted low-pressure records were tied in Alamosa, Colorado, broken in Amarillo, Texas, and smashed in Clayton, New Mexico.

The atmospheric pressure in Dodge City, Kansas, dipped to its lowest level in over 100 years Wednesday afternoon, March 13, according to the local NWS office. A pressure of 974.7 millibars was measured there, which broke the modern-day record of 974.9 millibars set in 1960, but was short of the all-time record-low pressure of 971.6 millibars set in 1878.

The storm bottomed out at 968 millibars on the afternoon of March 13 near Manter, Kansas, according to NOAA's Weather Prediction Center.

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Meteorologists frequently discuss pressure in terms of millibars, rather than inches of mercury. The lower the pressure in a storm, the more intense it is.

And the greater difference in pressure over an area, the stronger the winds.