The first nor’easter of the season is slamming into the North Eastern United States this week, which begs the question, what exactly IS a nor’easter?
The short answer: A nor’easter is a storm that travels along the US East Coast and typically has coastal winds out of the northeast.
Here’s the more involved explanation, from the National Weather Service (NWS) and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). “Nor’easters usually develop in the latitudes between Georgia and New Jersey, within 100 miles east or west of the East Coast.” They typically form between September and April and are strongest during the winter months.
Traveling north along the eastern seaboard, these storms often intensify as warm ocean water near the Gulfstream – a strong ocean current that brings warm water from the Gulf of Mexico into the Atlantic Ocean – clashes with Arctic air from the north. These temperature differences provide “the fuel that feeds Nor’easters,” NOAA said.
Nor’easters regularly affect some of the most densely populated US cities, including Washington, DC, Philadelphia, New York and Boston, as well as Canada’s maritime provinces. Nor’easters bring torrential rain and/or snow, gusty winds and extremely high surf that can cause coastal flooding.
The reason for concern when an impending nor’easter is predicted, is that these storm impacts can kill people, severely disrupt travel and transportation routes, as well as cause major property damage.
Unfortunately, as the world faces the climate crisis, extreme winter weather – specifically major snowstorms in the northeastern US – have been tied to warming Arctic temperatures, according to a study in the scientific journal Nature Communications by Atmospheric and Environmental Research, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Rutgers University.
Major winter storms were two to four times more likely when the Arctic was abnormally warm compared to when it was abnormally cold, according to research that looked at how severe winter weather, extreme cold and heavy snowfall in US cities related to conditions in the Arctic during and before the storms.
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