The East Coast and New England are still recovering from last week’s bombogenesis storm, a term which sounds biblical, though its roots are actually not from the Old Testament. Bombogenesis refers to an intense storm which results from a drop in barometric pressure of at least 24 millibars within 24 hours. Which of the following weather terms has a derivation related to the Old Testament and biblical times?
130209 Bombogenesis (10) by Justin Brockie is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
A. Bows of Promise. This is another name for rainbows, which comes from Genesis, Chapter 9, where a rainbow appears as a sign of God’s covenant with Noah and his descendants after the great flood.
B. St. Elmo’s Fire. This weather phenomenon occurs in thunderstorms when the ground is electrically charged and high voltage is in the air, leading to air molecules tearing apart and glowing. St. Elmo was one of Jesus’s disciples, but he was originally mentioned in the Book of Chronicles, the final book of Ketuvim, which detailed the history of the Jewish people from the story of Adam until the time of the Temple. Elmo, whose Hebrew name was Eliam, was one of the priests in the Temple until he, along with Simon, traveled to the Galilee where they began to follow Jesus and his ministry.
C. Messenger. A messenger is a single sunbeam which streams down through the clouds. The reference is to Jacob’s dream in Genesis, Chapter 28, where he sees a staircase leading up to the heavens, upon which angels were ascending and descending.
D. Clouds of Job. This refers to low-level clouds, typically below 6500 feet. The name comes from the Book of Job, Chapter 20, verse 6 & 7, which reads, “Though his excellency [the Assyrian monarch] mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds; Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung.”
E. Autumn Exodus. A weather phenomenon wherein the temperature in New York drops below 65°, usually in the late Fall. As a result, elderly Jews feel this cold front, leading to rapidly rising pressure, tropical depression, and haze. The seniors then join the jet stream out of Kennedy Airport, shooting through the ozone hole, and traveling in a southeasterly direction, finally converging on a warm front in southern Florida surrounded by a blizzard of snow birds.