I just read a Twitter post from @reedtimmerTVN that said another Nor’easter was bearing down on the East Coast of the United States today. It occurred to me that I really don’t know what a Nor’easter is, so I figured that would be the perfect word for Weather Word Wednesday.
According to Wikipedia, a Nor’easter is “is a type of macro-scale storm along the East Coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada, so named because the storm travels to the northeast from the south and the winds come from the northeast, especially in the coastal areas of the Northeastern United States and Atlantic Canada.”
Specifically, a Nor’easter describes a low pressure area who’s center of rotation is just off the East Coast and who’s leading winds in the left forward quadrant rotate onto land from the northeast. Nor’easters can cause coastal flooding, coastal erosion, hurricane force winds and heavy snow. While they can occur at any time of the year, they are most frequent in the winter months. These systems are known for bringing down extremely cold arctic air from the north.
Nor’easters generally affect the United States, from Virginia to the New England cost, as well as Quebec and Atlantic Canada. They tend to bring massive amounts of precipitation, high winds, large waves, and marginal storm surges to coastal areas. In general, though, people tend to call any strong rain or snow storm in the Northeast a Nor’easter. The very name brings feelings of dread and anticipation to people in the region!
For more information, visit this Wikipedia article on Nor’easters.