An autumn Nor’easter is about to slam the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions

An autumn Nor’easter is about to slam the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions. This is the second Nor’easter of the season. Several communities on the U.S. East Coast are still recovering from costly beach erosion due to last week’s storm Tropical Storm Melissa. 

The storm may neither strengthen quickly enough to be classified as a bomb cyclone, nor may there be enough northeasterly winds over a broad for it to be considered a true nor'easter. The barometric pressure has to fall 24 millibars or 0.71 inches in 24 hours for the bomb cyclone criteria to be met. Winds on the front side of the storm may be from the east or southeast instead of from the northeast.

There is a 100% chance of heavy rain late Wednesday when the Yankees are set to meet the Astros in game 4 of their series. “That looks like a problem,” Burke said by telephone. “I doubt they are going to get that one in today.”

Some of the most well-known Nor’easters include the notorious Blizzard of 1888, the “Ash Wednesday” storm of March 1962, the New England Blizzard of February 1978, the March 1993 “Superstorm,” the Boston snowstorms of January and February 2015, and the four Nor’easters in March 2018 that froze supply chains from Washington, D.C. to Boston.

Winds could reach tropical storm-force (39 mph+) with even higher gusts by Wednesday and Thursday for places such as New York City, Boston and Portland, Maine. These winds could be strong enough to bring down trees and power lines, cutting power to thousands of people.

The storm comes a week after Tropical Storm Melissa grew out of another early season nor’easter off Massachusetts. The latest storm has sparked wind warnings and advisories across Delaware, New Jersey and eastern New England including Boston into Thursday.

From tomorrow afternoon through Thursday afternoon, October 17, up to three inches of rainfall could accumulate from Newark, New Jersey to Long Island, Bridgeport, Providence and Boston. Destructive wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph could blow down trees and power lines, knocking out electricity and blocking roads. However, some computer models are hinting at gusts of 60 mph or more. In addition, storm surge could be high enough to flood some coastal communities and produce beach erosion.

Last week’s storm sat off the coast of the mid-Atlantic, churning up seas and bringing a strong onshore wind that shredded beaches up and down the East Coast.