Hybrid Nor’easter Turned Bomb Cyclone

By Irina Severin, an Expert on Russian Hybrid Warfare

Underestimated by forecasts, now the #nor’easter at the center of the discussion - is it still a nor’easter or a subtropical storm/hurricane, like 2012 Hurricane Sandy, which devastated the region and is now a reference point for defining this hybrid nor’easter, combining the traits of both - a nor’easter and a hurricane.

The timing of this unseasonal nor’easter defines its nature. Late September, when the Polar vortex starts to form in the Arctic and cool Canadian air, brought to the Atlantic by the upper cutoff low, the parent of the current nor’easter, collides with the still summer hot Atlantic waters, creates a rare window of opportunity for a bombogenesis, another name for rapid intensification.

The stark contrast between a cold core nor’easter and anomalously hot Atlantic waters led to bombogenesis, which qualifies this nor’easter as a bomb cyclone.

The amount of hot water, integrated by the nor’easter’s cold core, warmed it up and led to the thunderstorms inside its eye, turning this nor’easter into a hybrid nor’easter bomb cyclone, behaving as a hurricane.

Another two coincidences in timing, defining the nor’easter’s strength, are the full moon, which always intensifies the storm, and King tides, which do so just a couple of times a year.

Therefore, if we name this nor’easter what it is in fact - a bomb cyclone, the situation starts to look clearer. Especially in the context of #weather #warfare.