WEBVTT - What is a Nor’easter?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff from how Stuff works dot com where

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<v Speaker 1>smart happens. Hi Am Marshall Brain with today's question, what

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<v Speaker 1>is a northeaster? Nor Easters can occur in the eastern

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<v Speaker 1>United States anytime between October and April, when moisture and

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<v Speaker 1>cold air are plentiful. They're known for dumping heavy amounts

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<v Speaker 1>of rain and snow, producing hurricane force winds and creating

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<v Speaker 1>high surfs that caused severe beach erosion and coastal flooding. Obviously,

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<v Speaker 1>this looks a lot like a hurricane, so when a

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<v Speaker 1>big nor Easter comes through, it's gonna make the news.

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<v Speaker 1>Nor Easter is named for the winds that blow in

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<v Speaker 1>from the northeast and drive the storm up the East

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<v Speaker 1>coast along the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream is a

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<v Speaker 1>band of warm water that lies off the Atlantic coast

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<v Speaker 1>of the United States. There are two main components to

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<v Speaker 1>a northeaster. First, there's the Gulf Stream low pressure system.

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<v Speaker 1>These systems generate off the coast of Florida. The air

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<v Speaker 1>above the Gulf Stream warms and spawns a low pressure system.

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<v Speaker 1>This low circulates off the southeastern US coast, gathering warm

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<v Speaker 1>air and moisture from the Atlantic Ocean. Strong northeasterly winds

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<v Speaker 1>at the leading edge of the storm pull it up

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<v Speaker 1>the east coast. Second, there's an Arctic high pressure system.

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<v Speaker 1>As the strong northeasterly winds pull the storm up the coast,

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<v Speaker 1>it meets with cold Arctic air blowing down from Canada.

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<v Speaker 1>When the two systems collide, the moisture and cold air

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<v Speaker 1>produce a mix of precipitation and a lot of wind.

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<v Speaker 1>Winter conditions make nor'easters a normal occurrence, but only a

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<v Speaker 1>handful actually gather the force and powered cause problems inland.

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<v Speaker 1>The resulting precipitation depends on how close you are to

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<v Speaker 1>the converging point of the two storms. A powerful nor'easter

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<v Speaker 1>can bring travel to a standstill, closing city streets and

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<v Speaker 1>making it nearly impossible to get anywhere for days. The

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<v Speaker 1>thing to remember with northeasters is that the storm systems

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<v Speaker 1>occur frequently, but only a few of them are powerful

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<v Speaker 1>enough to make it into the news. There are two

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<v Speaker 1>types of northeaster's offshore farming. These are the storms you

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<v Speaker 1>hear about in the news. It's a newsworthy storm that

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<v Speaker 1>moves east of the East coast cities, dumping lots of

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<v Speaker 1>heavy snow. In an offshore farming storm, the hardest hit

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<v Speaker 1>metropolitan areas are likely to be Washington, d C, Philadelphia,

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<v Speaker 1>New York City, in Boston. Eventually, the system moves far

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<v Speaker 1>enough north that the Canadian jet stream pushes it off

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<v Speaker 1>the coast, and then there's onshore farming. These storms are

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<v Speaker 1>less exciting than offshore farming storms. They move westst of

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<v Speaker 1>East coast cities with gusting winds and mostly rain. For

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