"Blue Northern" [was "Nor'easter"]

[Arnold Zwicky]

On Jan 20, 2010, at 3:14 AM, Geoff Nathan wrote:

> ... I'm a little surprised that everyone didn't simply know that a
> Nor'easter was a major snowstorm

not necessarily a *snow*storm, though the most spectacular nor'easters
have been snowstorms.

> that rolls up the east coast, hitting New York, Boston, Maine and
> then the Maritimes.  I thought it was just standard English.
> Certainly CNN and The Weather Channel use the term all the time.
> Here's a definition:
>
> http://www.weather.com/encyclopedia/winter/noreast.html
>
> The word is polysemous for me, simultaneously meaning simply a wind
> from the North-East, and in that case it has no specific latitude
> and longitude.

the senses are connected.  as i understand these things, these storms
are low-pressure systems, with the associated winds moving circularly
from the low-pressure front to higher-pressure areas. so the winds in
the classic nor'easter come from the northeast. (this can be
confusing, because the storm itself is moving from south to north.)

there are other northeasterly winds -- the Diablo winds of the Bay
area, for instance. and the Santa Ana winds of sourthern California
are usually northeasterly.

arnold

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