What's the difference between a subtropical storm and nor'easter?

AccuWeather

They can have similar effects, but subtropical storms and nor'easters are two different kinds of storms. AccuWeather's Ariella Scalese explains the details.

Transcript

00:00We've been calling it a tropical wind and rainstorm to highlight those impacts since Monday.

00:06As you heard from Chief Meteorologist John Porter,

00:09AccuWeather is forecasting prolonged impacts from a tropical wind and rainstorm,

00:13which, by the way, is an exclusive AccuWeather term used to divide a storm beyond its wind.

00:17It takes into account other dangers and impacts from flooding, power outages, coastal hazards, you name it.

00:23It can be applied to a system that is developing into a tropical storm, a hybrid storm,

00:28or even a system that is no longer an official hurricane but still carries significant moisture.

00:33In addition to tropical wind and rainstorm,

00:35other terms you may have seen or heard on the AccuWeather network on AccuWeather.com are nor'easter and subtropical storm.

00:42Before we break down the difference between the two, let's see how cyclones are labeled.

00:47All right, so we follow the flowchart here, and we start with low-pressure systems.

00:51Those can be broken into three different categories.

00:54Extratropical, which occur in the mid-latitudes, things like nor'easters.

00:57You may have heard Alberta clippards.

00:58Then there's subtropical, which is a mix between a tropical and an extratropical system.

01:03Tropical systems, of course, hurricanes, tropical depressions, and tropical storms.

01:07So take a glance at this, and you can see that nor'easters and subtropical storms,

01:12they're actually labeled in two different categories.

01:14So while there's many similarities between a nor'easter and a subtropical storm,

01:18they do have their own set of characteristics as well.

01:21And the only way I could think to describe this is with a Venn diagram.

01:24So follow along here, we'll talk about a nor'easter first.

01:28It forms along the east coast of the United States.

01:30It's associated with cold air masses, so often it can bring snow.

01:33And it's driven by temperature differences between the warm ocean and the cold land.

01:38A subtropical storm forms over warm ocean water.

01:41It has characteristics of tropical and non-tropical systems.

01:45And it's driven by warm ocean waters and the jet stream.

01:47And it can gain the name.

01:49Both can bring significant impacts to the east coast of the U.S.

01:52And it's driven by the west coast of the U.S.

01:57And it's driven by the west coast of the U.S.

01:59And it's driven by the west coast of the U.S.

02:01And it's driven by the west coast of the U.S.

02:02And it's driven by the west coast of the U.S.

02:03And it's driven by the west coast of the U.S.

02:04And it's driven by the west coast of the U.S.

02:05And it's driven by the west coast of the U.S.

02:06And it's driven by the west coast of the U.S.

02:07And it's driven by the west coast of the U.S.

02:08And it's driven by the west coast of the U.S.

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