Tens of millions of people in the East have been warned that a powerful “nor’easter”—with intensity comparable to a tropical storm—will begin battering 16 states on the 22nd. Expected to last through the weekend, the storm will bring heavy rain, coastal flash flooding, deadly rip currents, and damaging wind gusts. The 22nd also marks the Autumn Equinox on the lunar calendar.
Rain will continue through the 23rd in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and North Carolina, potentially triggering life-threatening flash floods. By the 25th, cities along the Atlantic coast—including those in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine—will face winds exceeding 60 mph and coastal flooding.
AccuWeather meteorologist Alyssa Glenny warned that the storm could generate tropical-storm-force wind gusts later this week.
A “nor’easter” is a powerful storm that forms along the U.S. East Coast; it gets its name from the northeasterly winds that blow as a low-pressure system hovers over the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions. While they can occur year-round, the most intense storms typically strike between late autumn and winter.
This particular nor’easter is arriving on the final day of summer.
A powerful nor’easter in September is rare and unusually early. AccuWeather meteorologists predict that this storm, occurring during the first week of autumn, will bring rain rather than snow.
Temperatures in the affected states will drop 5 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit below the late-summer average.
By the 23rd, a strengthening coastal storm over the Atlantic is expected to cause the most severe coastal flooding and beach erosion during high tide in the southern Chesapeake Bay, impacting areas across Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and southern New Jersey. By the 24th and 25th, the storm will shift toward Long Island, New York, and eastern New England, with winds intensifying; coastal areas stretching from North Carolina to New York could face flooding. A full moon later this week is causing higher-than-normal tides, which may further exacerbate the flooding.
The AccuWeather team notes that the closer the storm gets to the coast, the more severe the winds, flooding, and beach erosion will be.
Meteorologists warn that heavy rain, rising coastal water levels, and strong winds battering the East Coast raise concerns about potential property damage.