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With all the emphasis on hurricane season during the summer/fall..sometimes we overlook the strength of what tropical systems can morph into. Remember Hurricane Gustav in 2008? There were 122 deaths attributed to this storm, from Cuba to the states. Many of these deaths can be attributed to flooding, and wind damage from the storm AFTER it lost it's tropical characteristics. 26 people were killed in the United States.

When a storm goes from a Tropical System to extratropical it loses it's warm core, and becomes more subject to weather systems coming from the continental US. Ida has done just this and has now developed into a powerful Nor' Easter. Here is Wikipedia's definition of a Nor'Easter..

A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below) is a type of macro-scale storm along the East Coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada, so named because the winds come from the northeast, especially in the coastal areas of the Northeastern United States and Atlantic Canada. More specifically, it describes a low pressure area whose center of rotation is just off the East Coast and whose leading winds in the left forward quadrant rotate onto land from the northeast. The precipitation pattern is similar to other extratropical storms. Nor'easters also can cause coastal flooding, coastal erosion, hurricane force winds, and heavy snow. Nor'easters can occur at any time of the year but are mostly known for their presence in the winter season.^[1] Nor'easters can be devastating and damaging, especially in the winter months, when most damage and deaths are cold related, as nor'easters are known for bringing extremely cold air down from the Arctic air mass. Nor'easters thrive on the converging air masses; that is, the polar cold air mass and the warmer ocean water of the Gulf Stream.^[1]

Nor'easters will usually develop between 30 N. and 35 N. latitudes.

What's left of Ida is pummelling the eastern seaboard from South Carolina to Maryland, with sustained winds of 30-45 mph...Gale force. They use Gale force terminology as opposed to Tropical Storm strength because it is no longer a tropical system. Waves are being recorded at 10-15 feet high. This extended period of wind and rain will cause beach erosion along VA beaches, the outter Banks and up to the Jersey Shore. Rainfall is already 2"+ and have seen amounts as high as 6"+ .

So in hindsight, now that the air has cleared in the Wiregrass, we should remember that Mother Nature can be a bit of a chameleon, but whatever you name a storm, it can be just as dangerous with a different title!