40+ Photos From The Nor’Easter That Will Show You The Sheer Power Of Mother Nature

The name alone might make you shiver in your boots — but what exactly is a Nor’easter, the powerful winter storm that devastated parts of the country this past week/weekend and once again, barreling through the East Coast? A Nor’easter is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: a storm featuring winds from the northeast off the Atlantic Ocean, affecting the East Coast of the United States. The storms typically develop between Georgia and New Jersey, according to the National Weather Service. “As the storm comes off the coast, you get that northeast wind, kind of a like a low-pressure, counter-clockwise spin,” AccuWeather senior meteorologist Carl Erikson said. Rain began shifting into snow — including heavy squalls that brought white-out conditions — for many parts of the East Coast Wednesday morning including southeast Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey and up the 1-95 corridor to New York City. This major coastal storm was the second storm in a week to wallop The Northeast, with hurricane-force winds, surging seas, whipping rain, and some snow. Though the term is often linked to winter storms, snow is not a meteorological requirement for Nor’easters — as the term can also apply to rain storms. Strong winds, flooding, and choppy seas are all regular features of Nor’easters as well. And the most powerful Nor’easters typically occur from September to April, the Weather Channel reports, so there may be more to come in 2018. Mother Nature (sometimes known as Mother Earth or the Earth-Mother) was focused on the life-giving and nurturing aspects of nature by embodying it, in the form of the mother. Here's her story... Waves crash in Scituate. The 42-foot fishing vessel Artemis rests on the breakwater near the Provincetown Inn after breaking from its mooring. A pedestrian in Boston’s Copley Square. Downed utility poles on Arsenal Street in Watertown. Flooding on East Squantum Street in Quincy. Waves crash into homes in Scituate. A woman and child are rescued from their Quincy home. Waves crash against a seawall near the Scituate Lighthouse Water floods from Boston Harbor onto Seaport Boulevard at the Boston Fish Pier. A woman and child are rescued from a flooded home on Post Island Road in Quincy. Burning Electrical Power Line. Jacob Gurner walks through a flooded backyard after checking on his home in Scituate. A flooded car sits in Houghs Neck in Quincy. A front-end loader clears Turner Road in Scituate, which was covered with sand from the storm. A Quincy home is evacuated. Water floods from Boston Harbor onto Seaport Boulevard in the Seaport district of Boston. An uprooted tree blocks a residential street after taking down a power line in Swampscott. Seawater violently rolls pounds seawall in Quincy. A man rows back to a home after going out for supplies in Quincy. An uprooted tree blocks Tyler Street in Quincy. Oceanside Drive resident Kate McRoberts passes through a flooded Kenneth Road in Scituate. A sailboat with a busted mast is covered with seaweed and debris in Quincy. A huge wave crashes onto Oceanside Drive in Scituate. Police patrol Huckins Avenue in Quincy. Scituate firefighter, Jack Bulman, looks over a flooded Jericho Road while surveying the area with the Massachusetts National Guard. Water surges down Ocean Street in Marshfield passing a Jeep, in its path. Dogs were evacuated from a flooded vehicle in Winthrop. American flags partially torn from their poles fly as a storm producing strong winds passes through Washington A car was left flooded after the driver was removed by the fire department in Winthrop. Boston’s State Street by Long Wharf. Waves crash against the boats docked at MacMillan Pier off Provincetown. A worker cuts a tree that had fallen on to a house as a storm bringing high winds passes over Kensington, Maryland. Waves crash against the seawall along Turner Road in Scituate, MA. High winds downed a tree onto power lines, blocking the street and damaging a vehicle in Takoma Park, MD. A man heads across flooded E. Squantum Street in Quincy, Mass. Flooding on Scituate Avenue in Scituate. Hoboken Train Terminal. A woman gets caught by a wave of heavy seas came ashore in Winthrop, Mass. An uprooted tree in Yonkers, NY. A Revolutionary War-era ship that surfaced after the storm calmed.The wreck was examined by the Maine Historic Preservation Commission and labeled as archeological site ME 497-004. https://youtu.be/vMq2TrkicQk So, Why is it called a Nor’Easter? While many assume Nor’easter is the name is a product of some kind of Maine lobsterman accent, that’s probably not true. In their book Origins of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language, Patricia T. O’Conner, and Stewart Kellerman write: The word ‘nor’easter’ is a contraction of ‘northeaster,’ a blustery storm with northeasterly winds. The storm has long been associated with New England, but the term ‘nor’easter’ isn’t native to the land of clam chowdah, according to many linguists and a great many coastal New Englanders. The locals, they say, have always pronounced the word by dropping the two r’s, not the th, making it sound something like ‘nawtheastah.’ Instead, “Nor’easter” seems to come from across the Atlantic Ocean. As far back as the Elizabethan period, the English used “nor'” and “nor’east” to refer to compass points. The Oxford English Dictionary cites the first written usage of “nor’easter” in London in 1837, in a translation of the Aristophanes play The Knights by B.D. Walsh: “Slack your sheet! A strong nor’-easter’s groaning.” The unabbreviated term “northeaster” appeared in print earlier, in the Boston Post-Boy in 1753: “Cap. Savage had a strong North-Easter some Hours before, about 8 Leagues S. W. of the Cape , in which he carried away his Boltsprit, but happily recover’d it again.” (Sources: Boston.com and TIME)