SYNOPTIC CLIMATOLOGY OF ATLANTIC COAST NORTH-EASTERS

A classification of extratropical storms in the north-western Atlantic Ocean is developed based upon the storm's origin. track, and intensification. All storms producing at least 1-6-m deep-water waves at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina from 1943 to 1984 are included. Eight distinct storm types are identified, and their seasonality, interannual variation, and relationship to a previously devised storm-intensity scale are discussed. The most dangerous storms are cyclones which originate either over Florida or north of Cuba from October through to April, travel northward, and are blocked by a stagnating anticyclone over New England or the North Atlantic. Coastal storm frequencies declined from the mid-1960s through to the mid-1970s and increased through to 1984, but the frequency of potentially damaging storms has increased since 1965.