An early-season nor'easter hammered the Northeast and mid-Atlantic for several days in late September, with coastal flooding, high winds and soaking rain from parts of the Carolinas to New England.

(RECAP: Deadly nor'easter deluges millions)

The Setup

Before low pressure gained strength off the East Coast, the difference between high pressure over eastern Canada and lower pressure off the Eastern Seaboard set up persistent northeast winds from the northern Outer Banks of North Carolina northward as soon as Sept. 22.

(NEWS AS IT HAPPENED: Sept. 25 | Sept. 26 | Sept. 27)

Three days later, low pressure intensified offshore and instead of kicking out to sea quickly, it was trapped near Long Island and New Jersey for three days Sept. 26-28, before finally inching into the Gulf of Maine and Canadian Maritimes on Sept. 29.

Coastal inundation

This stubborn pattern, common in fall, pushed ocean water to the coast, leading to coastal flooding at high tide as early as the evening of Sept. 22 in the Virginia Tidewater, Delmarva and Jersey shore.

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Some areas near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay and the Jersey shore saw at least minor flooding for 8 to 10 consecutive high tides for 6 days in a row from Sept. 22 or 23 through Sept. 27 or 28.

The highest water levels happened on Sept. 26, boosted by the month's full moon. The moon has a direct impact on the tides, and during a full moon, it makes the high tides even higher.

A 16-mile stretch of North Carolina Highway 12 on the Outer Banks was closed in both directions due to ocean overwash.

(WATCH: Nor'easter waves slam stilt homes on the Outer Banks)

Several of these high tides reached moderate to major flood levels from the northern Outer Banks of North Carolina to Long Island and New York City.

Coastal flooding then spread into parts of coastal New England, with areas of minor to moderate flooding at high tide from eastern Massachusetts to Connecticut and Rhode Island, including Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

Wind impacts

As the nor'easter intensified, strong winds pushed ashore into coastal areas, particularly from Maryland's Eastern Shore to New England from Sept. 25-26.

Wind gusts over 50 mph were clocked in parts of eight states.

In New York, Montauk Point on the eastern edge of Long Island clocked an 81 mph gust, while JFK Airport's peak gust reached 56 mph.

Gusts of 70 mph or more were measured in Surf City, New Jersey (74 mph), Block Island, Rhode Island (71 mph) and Wellfleet, Massachusetts (70 mph).

At least one person was killed by a fallen tree, and at its peak, about 180,000 customers lost power. Trees still with leaves on them were particularly susceptible to these high winds.

Rainfall

As you can see in the map below, areas from Delaware and eastern Maryland to Maine picked up at least a couple inches of rain from the nor'easter.

Several locations in Massachusetts and New Jersey picked up over 6 inches of rain. Over 4 inches of rain fell in at least one location in Connecticut, Maine, New York and Rhode Island.

In Massachusetts, homes were flooded from heavy rain in Brockton and Easton, and vehicles were flooded in Acushnet and Walpole.

In some coastal areas, this rain only added to flooding from ocean water pushing to the coast.

However, much of this rainfall was spread out over several days. That reduced the magnitude and extent of rainfall flooding from the nor'easter.

What is a nor’easter?

You might think it is too early for a nor’easter, but the criteria for a nor’easter are met more often than you would think.

A nor’easter simply means that the winds to the north of the low pressure center blow into an area from the northeast. For the Northeast, that usually means an area of low pressure is just off the coast, which brings the winds in this direction. 

(MORE: What is a nor’easter?)

Most people usually think of snow and ice with nor’easters and that is because nor’easters do tend to occur more in the late fall and winter.

The most notable nor’easters tend to bring heavy snow because these lows move up along the Gulf Stream, tapping into the warm ocean. This warm, moist air then clashes with the cold air over the Northeast to create heavy snowfall.

Fortunately, this one happened much earlier in the season, so it was all rain this time.