The Nor’Easter Ate My Homework!

All of us living on the east coast have experienced many a winter storm.  Some of the worst, or rather many of the worst, we have called a Nor'easter.  But, what exactly is a Nor'easter and why are they so severe?

According to The Weather Channel’s weather.com a Nor'easter is a storm that starts with a large area of low pressure in the Gulf Stream or of the East Coast.  But what is an area of low pressure?

About.com’s Education: Geography page tells us that air pressure refers to how much force is being applied to the surface of the Earth by the weight of the air.  

Wait, what?! The air doesn't have weight!

Actually, it does! 

See, the air is made up of molecules, such as nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and methane. These are not always present uniformly, meaning the amount of the different gases can change. They also differ in size from one another and move differently.  These factors combine to give the air weight by changing the temperature and density of the air mass in different areas. The air over Utah may be colder and have more carbon dioxide today, while the air over Tennessee may be warmer and have more nitrogen than carbon dioxide. Therefore, the pressure of the air over Utah will be different than the pressure of the air over Tennessee.

When there are a lot of air particles up there movin' around the pressure increases, and when there aren't a lot of air particles the pressure then decreases.  Check out the 10 minute video below for further explanation:

OK, so that’s easy enough, low pressure means an area of less air particles. But, how does this make a storm? 

Something has to make the area of low pressure and these things are typically warm air and high winds, which sounds to me like the beginning of a storm. Now, there is a lot more to atmospheric pressure, more details and more attributing factors, but this will get us started in understanding a Nor'easter.

So, we are back to our area of low pressure in the Gulf or off the east coast of the Atlantic.  Warm air, high winds, and well, access to a lot of water.  This area of low pressure now starts to travel north, east, or northeast, which could bring it up into any of the states along the east coast, up into Canada, or just out to sea.  The Weather Channel (TWC) tells us that if the storm heads west of coastal cities like Boston or NYC then those areas will end up with rain, but if the storm stays just off the coast and has plenty of water in the clouds and enough cold air to make snow… BAM! Happy snow day children!

So I guess the storm is called a Nor'easter because it happens on the east coast and heads north? 

Well, not exactly.  The storm gets its name because of the northeasterly winds that blow in AHEAD of the storm.  The winds can be very strong, and the storm itself can pack a punch with continued high winds, large amount of snow, sleet, or even freezing rain.

Even though we frequently associate the Nor'easter with winter, it can occur any time of year! These storms have a peak season from September to April and storms occurring then are often stronger than storms at other times.  HowStuffWorks explains that when the low pressure system with its warm air collides with cold air from the Arctic Mass it “fuels” the storm. 

The HowStuffWorks article, written by Laurie L. Dove, brought up another interesting tidbit that I had also planned to mention.  You might have noticed that winter storms now have names! This started with the nor'easter that slammed into an already suffering east coast after Hurricane Sandy.  TWC called the storm Athena, and has continued to name winter storms all season.  According to The Weather Channel, they are naming storms in order to bring attention to them and the danger they cause.  Naming the storms will make them stick out in people’s minds, and make it more difficult to just ignore them.  TWC believes that these storms are dangerous and that people need to understand the dangers and how to protect themselves.  

These are the reasons for naming the storms listed on TWC’s article linked above:

• Naming a storm raises awareness.
• Attaching a name makes it much easier to follow a weather system’s progress.
• A storm with a name takes on a personality all its own, which adds to awareness.
• In today’s social media world, a name makes it much easier to reference in communication.
• A named storm is easier to remember and refer to in the future.

TWC took it upon themselves to create a list of names for the storm:

Take a look at the article for an explanation of each of the chosen names. 

From what I could find online we have had storms up to Magnus, though I could have sworn there was a winter storm Nemo too.  It can be difficult to find information on these storms by name because not everyone is using them. TWC is privately owned and did not receive backing from the National Weather Service to name the storms.  It will be interesting to see if other organizations end up joining in on the naming of the storms, or if TWC channel will have to continue on naming storms by themselves, or if this will end up being the only season with named storms.

Here are the links I used in writing this article and some additional links on the topic:

Cited Links:

• The Weather Channel - Nor'Easters
• About.com - Low and High Pressure
• HowStuffWorks - What's a Nor'Easter?
• TWC - Why TWC is Naming Storms
• TWC - Winter Storm Names for 2012

Additional Links:

• 10 Worst Nor'Easters of All Time
• The Perfect Storm (movie)

Alright, it’s about time to wrap this up.  Hopefully, you now know a little more about Nor'easters. I know I have learned quite a bit myself.  Please check out the pages where I gathered my information from.  They are linked above but I will also include the links again below, along with some other cool sites that are Nor'easter related. 

Please feel free to share any information you have about these storms, or any questions.  I also welcome your stories about the Nor'easters you've experienced!