For the Mid-Atlantic states, this past winter was a record-breaker. As of this writing (February 12, 2010), a total of some 56 inches of snow had fallen in the Washington, D.C., area alone; clima-tologically speaking, the norm is around 18 inches. Most of the snowfall came via two successive winter storm systems known colloquially as "Nor'easters" or, if you prefer, "Northeasters." Nor'easters get their names because of the strong northeasterly winds that accompany their parent low-pressure centers. It would be just as correct to call them "East Coast deep extra-tropical winter low pressurernsystems," but somehow we keep calling them Nor'easters-perhaps to sound more like the New Englanders they so often affect.
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