Why This Weekend’s Nor’easter Is Like a Hurricane
Why This Weekend’s Nor’easter Is Like a Hurricane
为什么本周末的“东北风暴”堪比飓风
A powerful nor’easter developing this week will bring wicked winds, rough surf, and heavy rains to coastal communities from North Carolina to Nova Scotia. 本周正在形成的一场强劲“东北风暴”（Nor’easter）将给从北卡罗来纳州到新斯科舍省的沿海社区带来狂风、巨浪和暴雨。
These types of storms are more synonymous with mid-winter than mid-fall. And true to form, this storm is a little different. It won’t drop snow or ice like a classic winter nor’easter. In fact, this system may bring a tease of tropical weather to an Atlantic basin that’s been devoid of hurricane activity so far this year. 这类风暴通常与隆冬而非深秋联系在一起。正如其名，这场风暴有些不同寻常：它不会像典型的冬季东北风暴那样带来降雪或结冰。事实上，这个天气系统可能会给今年迄今为止尚无飓风活动的大西洋盆地带来一丝热带天气的气息。
An Impactful Nor’easter for the East Coast
对东海岸影响显著的东北风暴
Nor’easters are special types of low-pressure systems that earn their name from the fierce northeasterly winds that can lash coastlines. 东北风暴是一种特殊类型的低压系统，因其能席卷海岸线的猛烈东北风而得名。
The seed that’ll grow into this weekend’s nor’easter started developing on Wednesday a few hundred miles off North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The system will meander toward New England into this weekend before slowly winding down into early next week. 这场将于本周末形成的东北风暴，其雏形于周三在北卡罗来纳州外滩群岛（Outer Banks）外几百英里处开始发展。该系统将在本周末向新英格兰地区缓慢移动，随后在下周初逐渐减弱。
Forecasters expect strong, persistent winds to hit coastal locations from North Carolina to Nova Scotia. The strongest gusts will buffet New England through Friday and Saturday, when winds may reach 60 to 70 mph. 气象预报员预计，从北卡罗来纳州到新斯科舍省的沿海地区将遭遇强劲且持续的风力。最强阵风将在周五和周六袭击新英格兰地区，风速可能达到每小时60到70英里。
Communities throughout the region can expect coastal flooding, beach erosion, life-threatening rip currents, and dangerously rough surf. Isolated power outages are possible. Flight delays at New York’s and Boston’s airports are also likely due to blustery winds and rain. 该地区各社区应警惕沿海洪水、海滩侵蚀、危及生命的离岸流以及危险的巨浪。局部地区可能会出现停电。由于狂风和降雨，纽约和波士顿机场的航班也极有可能出现延误。
Computer models still don’t entirely agree on how close to the coast this storm will track, or how long it’ll linger in the area—both factors that are crucial to determining exact impacts. A slower track closer to the coast will plaster the region with stronger winds and heavier rainfall than a faster path or one that keeps the center of the storm farther out to sea. 计算机模型对于这场风暴将以多近的距离靠近海岸，以及它将在该地区停留多久尚未达成完全一致——这两个因素对于确定具体影响至关重要。如果风暴移动缓慢且靠近海岸，该地区遭受的强风和暴雨将比风暴快速移动或中心远离海岸的情况更为严重。
Nor’easters Are Common in Late Fall and Winter
东北风暴在深秋和冬季很常见
Nor’easters are most common between October and April as powerful jet streams sweep across North America. It’s unusual for such a potent nor’easter to develop this early in the season. 随着强劲的急流横扫北美，东北风暴在10月至4月间最为常见。在季节如此早期就形成如此强劲的东北风暴是不寻常的。
Nor’easters are considered non-tropical—or as meteorologists call them, extratropical—systems that typically draw most of their energy from intense upper-level winds. That’s different from hurricanes, which tend to feed on warmer-than-normal oceans. But low-pressure systems exist on a spectrum that sometimes makes it difficult to neatly define them as tropical or extratropical, and this storm is a prime example. 东北风暴被视为非热带系统（气象学家称之为“温带气旋”），其能量通常主要来自高空强风。这与飓风不同，飓风往往依靠异常温暖的海洋获取能量。但低压系统存在于一个连续谱上，有时很难将其明确定义为热带或温带系统，而这场风暴就是一个典型的例子。
A Tropical Connection
热带关联
Some computer models suggest that this week’s nor’easter may acquire some tropical characteristics as it intensifies off the Northeast coastline. Fully extratropical systems feature cold air throughout the entire core of the storm. This nor’easter, on the other hand, may briefly develop a shallow warm core, a phenomenon found in tropical storms and hurricanes. Cloud structure, the storm’s overall wind field, and thunderstorm activity near its center are other tropical characteristics to watch out for. 一些计算机模型显示，本周的东北风暴在东北海岸外增强时，可能会获得一些热带特征。完全的温带气旋系统在整个风暴核心区域都表现为冷空气。而这场东北风暴可能会短暂形成一个浅层暖核，这是热带风暴和飓风中常见的现象。云层结构、风暴的整体风场以及中心附近的雷暴活动，都是需要关注的其他热带特征。
Even though it’s not likely to earn a name as a hurricane would, it’s important for residents throughout the region to pay attention to the threat of flooding, wind damage, and power outages. 尽管它不太可能像飓风那样被命名，但该地区居民仍需密切关注洪水、风灾和停电带来的威胁。
It’s strangely fitting that a nor’easter may prove to be the most hurricane-like non-hurricane we’ve seen across the Atlantic basin this season. We’re now past the peak of hurricane season and the year remains historically quiet. Tropical activity here is running at less than 10 percent of normal for this point in the year. This is also the latest the season has gone without producing a hurricane since the satellite era began in 1966. A quiet hurricane season is a hallmark of an El Niño, when hot waters in the tropical Pacific create conditions in the atmosphere unsuitable for tropical storms to form in the Atlantic. 这场东北风暴可能成为本季大西洋盆地中最像飓风的“非飓风”天气，这显得颇为讽刺。我们现在已经过了飓风季节的巅峰期，但今年大西洋的活动异常平静。目前的热带活动水平不到往年同期正常水平的10%。这也是自1966年卫星时代开始以来，飓风季节最晚出现飓风的一年。平静的飓风季节是厄尔尼诺现象的标志，此时热带太平洋的暖水会创造出不利于大西洋热带风暴形成的大气条件。
But winter is a different story, and this week’s storm is also a potential preview of what’s to come as El Niño gains strength. Strong El Niño events tend to influence an active storm track across the southern US during the cooler months, which may in turn lead to more coastal storms along the Eastern Seaboard. 但冬季的情况则不同，本周的风暴也可能是随着厄尔尼诺现象增强而即将到来天气的预演。强厄尔尼诺事件往往会影响美国南部在寒冷月份的活跃风暴路径，这反过来可能导致东海岸沿线出现更多的沿海风暴。