Re: Nor'easter?
I looked at Wiki as well nwcove. Point is this storm came from the West, so it isn't a Nor'easter if I understand above correctly.
Well, they all come from the West , kind of. See detailed explanation below:
Maryland's greatest winter storms are the
"Nor'easters" or what some call the
"White Hurricane". To get heavy snow across the State, you must first have an arctic air mass in place. High pressure builds over New England. Cold, arctic air flows south from the high. The dense cold air is unable to move westward over the Appalachian Mountains, so it funnels south down the valleys and along the Coastal Plain. This is called "cold air damming". To the east of the cold air is the warm water of the Gulf Stream. The contrast of the cold air sliding south into the Carolinas and the warm air sitting over the Gulf Stream creates a breeding ground for storms. With the right meteorological conditions such as the position of the jet stream, storm development off the Carolinas may become "explosive" (sudden, rapid intensification; a dramatic drop in the central pressure of the storm).
The ideal position of the jet stream has it entering the West Coast of the US and then splitting. The north branch crosses the northern Rockies and Canada and the southern branch dips down to the Gulf Coast states. The south branch then turns northeast across Virginia and rejoins the north branch near Newfoundland. The north branch of the jet supports the southward sinking cold air. The south branch carries a disturbance from the Gulf Coast northeast to the Carolina coast where it intensifies into the Nor'easter. Winds around the storm center carry warm, moist air from over the Gulf Stream, up and over the cold inland air. The air rises, cools and snow begins. The storm's speed and exact track to the north become critical in properly forecasting and warning for heavy snow across Maryland. It is quite common for the rain-snow line to fall right over the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. The heaviest snow band generally occurs in a 50 mile wide swath about 150 miles northwest of the low pressure center (represented as an "L" on the diagram). Closer to the low, the warm ocean air changes the precipitation over to sleet, freezing rain, and eventually rain. If the forecasted storm track is off by just a little bit, it can mean the difference between heavy rain, freezing rain or sleet (marked as mixed precipitation in the diagram), and a foot or more of snow.
Winds around the storm's center can become intense. The strong northeast winds that rack the coast and inland areas give the storm its name. The wind builds large waves that rack the coastline and sometimes pile water inland causing major coastal flooding and severe beach erosion. Unlike the hurricane, which usually comes and goes within one tide cycle, the Nor'easter can linger through several tides, each one piling more and more water on shore and into the bays.
What they don't say is the waters of the Gulf Stream off NC stay 70-80 degrees year round. Lots of energy to work with
Maryland Winters
