The intensification of the strongest nor'easters

Area of Science:

• Climatology
• Meteorology
• Oceanography

Background:

• Nor'easters are significant coastal hazards along the U.S. East Coast, characterized by strong winds and heavy precipitation.
• Historically, less research has focused on nor'easters compared to tropical cyclones due to data limitations.
• Climate change impacts on nor'easter behavior are increasingly important to understand.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address challenges in documenting and categorizing nor'easters.
• To create a reliable historical database of nor'easters using long-term reanalysis data.
• To analyze trends in nor'easter intensity and precipitation.

Main Methods:

• Employed a cyclone tracking approach.
• Utilized long-term atmospheric reanalysis data.
• Developed a historical database of nor'easter events.

Main Results:

• Identified a significant increasing trend in maximum wind speeds for intense nor'easters (>66th percentile).
• Observed an increasing trend in hourly precipitation rates associated with these storms.
• Established a reliable historical database for future research.

Conclusions:

• Intense nor'easters are becoming stronger and wetter due to climate change.
• These changes exacerbate risks of coastal flooding and erosion for U.S. East Coast cities and shorelines.
• The developed historical database provides a foundation for further climate change impact studies on extratropical cyclones.