Are storms getting worse? A new study suggests the ones to come could be even more destructive

A study carried out by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) has revealed there is both good news and bad news when it comes to nor’easters, the often brutal storms that batter the east coast of North America, typically between September and April.

Fewer but more intense nor’easters

The good news is that there will be fewer such storms as the climate gets warmer, with the cold Arctic heating air up faster than the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, which has the Atlantic Ocean’s warmer air. The temperature contrast plays an important role in the creation of low-pressure systems.

The bad news is that the nor’easters which do still occur are more intense than ever before, according to the study, whose lead author is climate scientist Michael Mann. His firsthand experience of “Snowmageddon,” which killed 41 people and dumped more than 20 inches of snow on Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, drove him to look for answers as to how climate change would affect the storms.

Big increase in “destructive potential” of storms

A study of 900 nor’easters between 1940 and 2025 showed that the maximum wind speed of the most intense storms increased by approximately 6%. Although that may not sound like a lot, that translates to a 20% increase in “destructive potential.”

The research also shows that the amount of rain and snow that fell was up by 10%, caused by a similar phenomenon to the one described earlier. The warmer the ocean and the air gets, the more moisture lingers in the atmosphere. That inevitably comes out in the form of rain and snow, and the only way is down.

U.S.’ east coast “neglected” and vulnerable

With nor’easters usually passing over densely-populated areas on the east coast of the U.S., Mann believes more needs to be done to protect eastern parts of the country from flooding, with storms expected to become more and more violent. “Nor’easters have been neglected, and that’s another contribution to increased coastal risk that we haven’t really been focusing on enough.”

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