As the East Coast digs out of a massive snowstorm, a potential nor’easter could bring more snow to the region this weekend.
Here’s what you need to know about this type of severe storm:
Nor’easters along the East Coast get their name because the winds over the coastal area are typically from the northeast.
Yuki Iwamura/AP – PHOTO: People take the Staten Island Ferry while ice floats on the Hudson River, January 27, 2026, in New York.
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These storms can occur at any time of the year but are most frequent and most violent between September and April.
Nor’easters almost always bring precipitation in the form of heavy rain or snow, as well as gale-force winds, rough seas, and, occasionally, coastal flooding.
Nor’easters usually develop in the latitudes between Georgia and New Jersey, within 100 miles east or west of the East Coast.
Kylie Cooper/Reuters – PHOTO: Snow covers the ground around the US Capitol building in Washington, DC, January 27, 2026.
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The heavily populated region between Washington, DC, Philadelphia, New York and Boston — known as the “Interstate 95 Corridor” — is especially affected by nor’easters.
These storms progress generally to the northeast and typically reach maximum intensity near New England and the Maritime Provinces of Canada.
The East Coast provides an ideal breeding ground for nor’easters. During the winter, the polar jet stream transports cold, Arctic air south across the plains of Canada and the United States, then east to the Atlantic Ocean where warm air from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic tries to move north.
Gary Hershorn/ABC News – PHOTO: The midtown Manhattan skyline and the Empire State Building in New York City are seen behind a snow bank in Hoboken, New Jersey, January 26, 2026.
The warm waters of the Gulf Stream help keep coastal waters relatively mild during the winter, which in turn helps warm the cold winter air over the water. This difference in temperature between the warm air over the water and the cold arctic air over land is the fuel that feeds the nor’easters.
Some well-known nor’easters include the New England Blizzard of February 1978, the “Superstorm” of March 1993 and the Boston ice storms of January and February 2015, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.