A powerful nor'easter developing this week will bring fierce winds, rough seas, and heavy rain to coastal communities from North Carolina to Nova Scotia. Nor'easters are special types of low-pressure systems that earn their name from the powerful northeasterly winds that can lash coastlines. The system, which started developing on Wednesday a few hundred miles off North Carolina’s Outer Banks, will meander toward New England into this weekend before slowly winding down into early next week.

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. 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.

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.

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. 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.

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.