--- title: How Does Climate Change Impact Nor'easters? description: A nor'easter brings heavy rain, winds, and flooding to the U.S. East Coast. Climate experts explain how these types of storms are becoming more intense. canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/09/25/climate-change-nor-easters/ author: Simmone Shah article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-09-25T19:32:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-09-26T19:43:46.000Z article:section: Climate og:title: How Does Climate Change Impact Nor'easters? og:description: A nor'easter brings heavy rain, winds, and flooding to the U.S. East Coast. og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/09/25/climate-change-nor-easters/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c3381522204398e/6ab6c8dae8ddf865d1377885/nor-easter.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: nor-easter.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Does Climate Change Impact Nor'easters? twitter:description: A nor'easter brings heavy rain, winds, and flooding to the U.S. East Coast. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2c3381522204398e/6ab6c8dae8ddf865d1377885/nor-easter.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Does Climate Change Impact Nor'easters? > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=d341fec8-57f9-466f-8514-df8154375a71&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Scientists Warn 'Super El Niño' Expected To Be Strongest on Record [Watch (HLS stream): Scientists Warn 'Super El Niño' Expected To Be Strongest on Record](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0XXRJn7J.m3u8) (3:28)  _Published 2026-09-24. A nor'easter brings heavy rain, winds, and flooding to the U.S. East Coast. Climate experts explain how these types of storms are becoming more intense._ by [Simmone Shah](https://time.com/author/simmone-shah/) and [Rebecca Schneid](https://time.com/author/rebecca-schneid/) Sep 25, 2026 7:32 PM UTC by [Simmone Shah](https://time.com/author/simmone-shah/) and [Rebecca Schneid](https://time.com/author/rebecca-schneid/) Sep 25, 2026 7:32 PM UTC A massive nor'easter is sweeping across the U.S. Northeast this weekend, impacting coastal regions from the Midatlantic to Maine—bringing heavy rains, flooding, and wind gusts surpassing [60 miles per hour](https://abc7ny.com/live-updates/developing-noreaster-threatens-jersey-shore-long-island-coastal-flooding-rough-surf-strong-winds-accuweather-alert/19861959/) in some affected areas. Those impacts are forecast to continue through Monday. “This nor'easter is shaping up to be impactful in part because it will be slow moving, potentially building up a large storm surge,” Michael Mann, a professor of [climate](https://time.com/section/climate/) science and climate change at the University of Pennsylvania, said as the storm was making its approach on Friday. [Coastal flooding has since submerged roads](https://time.com/article/2026/06/23/rising-seas-scranton-north-carolina-photography/) in parts of New Jersey, including in Atlantic City, where water levels surged to levels unseen since [Superstorm Sandy](https://time.com/3544072/hurricane-sandy-anniversary/). The weather also interrupted air travel in the area, and dozens of festivals, concerts, and sporting events were also cancelled or rescheduled over the weekend. While September nor’easters aren’t unheard of, they are uncommon. And as the climate warms, research suggests that the strongest storms are also going to become more intense. ## What is a nor'easter? Named for the winds that blow in from the northeast, the storms typically impact the east coast of the U.S. and Canada, and bring either rain or snow. They can come at any time of the year but are most common between September and April. “A nor’easter, like a hurricane, derives some of its energy from the heat of the ocean,” says Mann. However, unlike hurricanes, nor’easters tend to have cold cores, and can linger over an area longer than a hurricane might. Nor’easters have been responsible for billions of dollars in damage in the U.S. Memorable nor’easter [storms](https://www.weather.gov/safety/winter-noreaster) include the New England Blizzard of February 1978, the March 1993 “Superstorm” and the recent Boston snowstorms of January and February 2015\. ## How are nor'easters changing due to climate change? Scientists are still not 100% clear about how nor’easters are changing due to climate change. “There are things we can say with confidence about changes in nor'easters and other areas that we're still coming to an understanding about,” says Mathew Barlow, professor of climate science at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. If there’s one thing that’s clear, it’s that the more intense nor’easters are becoming more extreme—bringing with them more rainfall and stronger winds. That can lead to more storm surges, coastal flooding, and wind damage. “Human-caused warming is leading to higher precipitation totals with these storms,” says Mann. And it’s something that’s becoming increasingly common with extreme weather generally. As human-caused climate change warms our atmosphere, it allows it to hold more moisture—and release more precipitation when it rains. “Not every storm is becoming more intense, but the intense storms are becoming more intense—whether that be a thunderstorm, a hurricane, one of these nor'easters,” Barlow says. One thing that doesn’t seem to be changing is the number of storms, Barlow adds. “We're not seeing any changes in the overall average, and the total number of storms might actually be going down a little bit,” he notes. In an ever warming world, storms are only going to continue to intensify. Climate change is increasing the number of “billion dollar disasters,” disasters that top at least $1 billion in damage, that take place in the U.S. each year. The average length of time between billion-dollar disasters has [fallen](https://time.com/7344568/2025-billion-dollar-climate-disasters/)—from 82 days during the 1980s to 16 days during the last 10 years. In 2025, the U.S. experienced a billion-dollar weather or climate disaster once every 10 days. “Until we stop increasing the amount of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, the intensity of rainfall, the intensity of these storms, will continue to increase as well,” says Barlow. “Until we stop making things worse, things are going to keep getting worse.” ## Transcript The current El Nino that we're seeing develop now is among the very strongest that we've ever seen for this time of year. It actually is the strongest that we have on record. There's now a 90% chance that the current El Nino will intensify to a very strong event towards the end of the year. There's also now a very high chance, 69% as of last week, that this El Nino will be the strongest on record since 1950. We know that El Nino supercharges global warming and is likely to add a little bit of warming to the warming that we've already seen. What our data show is that perhaps global warming also supercharges El Nino. The fact that August 2026 has, um, uh, matched the the hottest months ever observed means that the climate system, our climate system is really operating well outside the range we would have expected just a decade ago. A useful way to think about climate change and proportional, uh, heat content is that our changing climate through human activities is loading the dice, and El Nino influences the outcome of an individual role, or perhaps gives you an additional roll of the dice. The record ocean temperatures that we see right now are a combination of background level of warming. So the ocean in general has warmed about 0.8°C from human induced climate change. And then we've got this boost from the El Nino event. When we have a warmer ocean, such as we've had in Europe this summer. It amplifies the impacts of heat waves because A you don't get the the cooler night time temperatures with the sea breeze coming off the ocean. When the ocean is very warm. As the atmosphere warms, it holds more water vapor. And that water vapor can come out of the atmosphere when conditions are right in intense rainfall. So we get more rainfall out of a particular rainstorm. That intensification of precipitation is happening all around the world right now. But if we think about El Nino impacts where El Nino would produce a flood, now, it would produce an even bigger flood. One. We're seeing things like tropical storms striking Hawaii. Normally, tropical storms don't get as far north as Hawaii, but because the Pacific is so warm, those storms can form over that very warm water. We're seeing very dry conditions in India, where the monsoon is among the driest of the last 20 years. Indonesia, for example, over a quarter million acres of land have burned. That's created tremendous air quality problems with heavy smoke that is now blowing over adjacent countries as well. Between Malaysia and Indonesia, they produce 85% of the global palm oil supply. So definitely there will be impacts on global trade. Whatever happens to agriculture really determines whether people stay below or just slightly above the poverty line. The intensification of El Nino closely parallels warming. We know what's causing that warming. It's the human consumption of fossil fuels. And so this gives us one more nudge as if we needed it. But I think we do to move our energy system towards renewables and away from fossil fuels. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/09/25/climate-change-nor-easters/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/09/25/climate-change-nor-easters/"},"headline":"How Does Climate Change Impact Nor'easters?","datePublished":"2026-09-25T19:32:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-09-26T19:43:46.000Z","description":"A nor'easter brings heavy rain, winds, and flooding to the U.S. East Coast. 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