Nor’Easter

Timo Herbst is a visual artist from Leipzig and Berlin, Germany. His work explores the choreography of everyday life and politically connotated movements, as well as the use and consequences that bodily movements have for the private person and society. He forms these dynamic spatial systems of social and environmental structures into multimedia installations that use drawing, video and performance. www.timoherbst.org 

Nor’Easter

The winter storm which rapidly intensifies on the mid-Atlantic coast batters coastal areas with a combination of heavy snow, ice, and gusty winds, which also cause coastal flooding. The storms called Nor’easters moving along the east coast of the US are able to rapidly strengthen as they cross the warm waters of the Gulf Stream. As storms do so, they gather plenty of moisture, which they transform into heavy snow. The bigger the pressure difference, the stronger the winds. As the difference in pressure between a storm’s low pressure center and the higher pressure surrounding max out, wind speeds increase accordingly. Due to the slow moving nature of the storms, water levels across the Northeast can remain elevated for multiple tidal cycles regardless of whether these storms are getting stronger. They are occurring over an ocean that is fuller than it used to be because of climate change. This all makes it easier for storms to push enough water onshore to cause flooding. Even though the total amount of snowfall may decrease, storms where a lot of rain, snow or both fall from the sky increase.