Nor'easter

Nor'easter is a colloquial term for a macro scale storm whose winds come from the northeast, especially in the coastal areas of the northeastern United States and Atlantic Canada.

More specifically it describes a type of storm (low pressure area) whose center of rotation is just off the coast and whose leading winds (left forward quadrant) rotate onto land from the northeast. The resulting warm (relative to overland temperatures) humid air moves onshore where the moisture precipitates out due to the drop in temperature. This produces heavy, cold coastal rains in the warmer months, and winter blizzards that affect the northeastern United States and Atlantic Canada. They also can cause coastal flooding, coastal erosion and gale force winds.

Nor'easters are usually formed by Canadian (or Arctic) cold fronts mixing with warm air (and Low Pressure) fronts from the Gulf Coast that are pulled up the east coast by the jet stream

Such storms often move slowly (in their latter stage, when mature) and are frequently of significant intensity.

The northeastern United States and Atlantic Canada, particularly New England and Nova Scotia, are usually hit with several nor'easters each year, most often in the winter and early spring, but also sometimes during the autumn. These storms can dump inches of rain and/or several feet of snow on the region, and sometimes last for several days. Until the nor'easter passes, thick dark clouds block out the sun and cast a wet, gloomy shadow over the land. During a single storm the precipitation can range from a torrential downpour to a fine mist, but it does not stop. Low temperatures and wind gusts of up to 50 miles per hour add to the general misery associated with a nor'easter.

Infamous nor'easters

• The Blizzard of 1888
• The Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962
• The Groundhog Day gale of 1976
• The Nor'easter of 1978
• The Halloween Nor'easter of 1991 (the "Perfect Storm")
• The 1993 North American Storm Complex
• The Blizzard of 1996
• The Blizzard of 2005