ORLANDO, Fla. – You may have heard of them. You may have not. Nor’easters are typically synonymous with snow in the Northeast, but the system impacting Florida this weekend is not bringing snow and Florida definitely isn’t in the Northeast!
It may surprise you to know that while uncommon, nor’easters do sometimes impact the Sunshine State.
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Nor’easters get their name from the strong northeast wind associated with the storm rather than the location of the impact. The wind also has to be blowing inland from the Atlantic to classify as a nor’easter. Nor’easters typically develop in between Georgia and New Jersey and within 100 miles of the coast. These storms are normally at their strongest in the Northeast and Southern Canada.
In fall and winter, the Deep South and Southeast are breeding grounds for these massive storms as the initial storm itself tends to originate in these areas.
Arguably the most famous nor’easter of anyone alive today, the Blizzard of ‘93, also known as the Storm of the Century or ‘93 Superstorm, was born locally before slamming the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast with the white stuff.
The ‘93 Superstorm was never a nor’easter for Florida because the center of low pressure lifted north through the Panhandle keeping winds southerly, but its impacts were still felt locally with multiple tornado touchdowns and severe weather. As the storm moved into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, it took on the nor’easter characteristics.
Florida is much more commonly impacted by developing nor’easters, also known as midlatitude cyclones, rather than the nor’easter themselves because of that wind direction definition.
While impacts from nor’easter can be very similar to that of a tropical storm or hurricane they are very different storms. These beasts get their energy from temperature differences in the atmosphere rather than the warm waters of the ocean. The East Coast of the U.S. in the fall and winter offer the perfect recipe for these storms to develop.
Cold air moves down from Canada and meets up with relatively warmer air that advances northward from the Deep South. The warm Gulf Stream in the Atlantic helps to fuel these storms further as the cold air moving over the relatively warmer water creates instability for these storms to explode. If they strengthen fast enough, bombogenesis occurs. Yes, that’s actually a scientific term similar to that of a hurricane rapidly intensifying.
A storm “bombs out” or becomes meteorological bomb when the pressure drops 24 millibars in 24 hours.
Back to this weekend.
The storm that brought all of the rain to Florida Friday has moved off of the East Coast and into the Atlantic sending a northeast wind right into Florida, meeting the true definition of a nor’easter.
Strong winds and coastal flooding will be possible through early next week. For more on the storm itself, click here.