A strengthening nor'easter threatens heavy rain, flooding, and strong winds along the East Coast from Virginia to New England over the weekend. Michael Mann, a climate science professor, explains that while nor'easters derive energy from ocean heat like hurricanes, they have cold cores and can persist longer, leading to more prolonged impacts such as storm surges. Climate change is intensifying these storms by increasing rainfall and wind strength, contributing to more extreme weather events despite no significant change in the overall number of storms.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-26,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
A nor'easter is strengthening along the East Coast—threatening to bring heavy rain, flooding, and strong wind gusts to millions of people.
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nor'easter → strengthen → people
Coastal flooding has already affected portions of Virginia and North Carolina, and wind gusts of up to 50 mph are expected in some areas.
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gusts → affect → areas
The storm could stall near the coast between New Jersey and Long Island, prolonging strong winds, rain, and coastal flooding in the area—leaving northern New Jersey, New York City, Long Island, and southern New England facing some of the storm's strongest winds, heaviest rain, and coastal flooding.
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storm → stall → winds
Rain is expected to start as early as Friday evening and could continue throughout the weekend.
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Rain → expect → weekend
“This nor'easter is shaping up to be impactful in part because it will be slow moving, potentially building up a large storm surge,” says Michael Mann, professor of climate science and climate change at the University of Pennsylvania.
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Mann → shape → Pennsylvania
Named for the winds that blow in from the northeast, the storms typically impact the east coast of the U.S. and Canada, and bring either rain or snow.
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storms → name → rain
They can come at any time of the year but are most common between September and April.
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They → come → September
“A nor’easter, like a hurricane, derives some of its energy from the heat of the ocean,” says Mann.
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Mann → derive → ocean
However, unlike hurricanes, nor’easters tend to have cold cores, and can linger over an area longer than a hurricane might.
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hurricane → tend → area
Memorable nor’easter storms include the New England Blizzard of February 1978, the March 1993 “Superstorm” and the recent Boston snowstorms of January and February 2015.
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storms → include → January
How are nor'easters changing due to climate change?
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nor'easters → change → change
Scientists are still not 100% clear about how nor’easters are changing due to climate change.
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nor’easters → change → change
“There are things we can say with confidence about changes in nor'easters and other areas that we're still coming to an understanding about,” says Mathew Barlow, professor of climate science at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
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Barlow → be → Lowell
If there’s one thing that’s clear, it’s that the more intense nor’easters are becoming more extreme—bringing with them more rainfall and stronger winds.
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nor’easters → ’ → rainfall
That can lead to more storm surges, coastal flooding, and wind damage.
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That → lead → surges
“Human-caused warming is leading to higher precipitation totals with these storms,” says Mann.
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Mann → cause → storms
And it’s something that’s becoming increasingly common with extreme weather generally.
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that → ’ → weather
As human-caused climate change warms our atmosphere, it allows it to hold more moisture—and release more precipitation when it rains.
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it → cause → precipitation
“Not every storm is becoming more intense, but the intense storms are becoming more intense—whether that be a thunderstorm, a hurricane, one of these nor'easters,” Barlow says.
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Barlow → become → nor'easters
One thing that doesn’t seem to be changing is the number of storms, Barlow adds.
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Barlow → seem → storms
“We're not seeing any changes in the overall average, and the total number of storms might actually be going down a little bit,” he notes.
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he → see → storms
In an ever warming world, storms are only going to continue to intensify.
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storms → warm → world
Climate change is increasing the number of “billion dollar disasters,” disasters that top at least $1 billion in damage, that take place in the U.S. each year.
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that → increase → U.S.
The average length of time between billion-dollar disasters has fallen—from 82 days during the 1980s to 16 days during the last 10 years.
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length → fall → years
In 2025, the U.S. experienced a billion-dollar weather or climate disaster once every 10 days.
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U.S. → experience → disaster
“Until we stop increasing the amount of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, the intensity of rainfall, the intensity of these storms, will continue to increase as well,” says Barlow.
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Barlow → stop → storms
“Until we stop making things worse, things are going to keep getting worse.”
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things → stop → ?
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