EXPLAINER: How Ida can be so deadly 1000 miles from landfall

Meteorologists say natural and man-made forces made Ida deadly and devastating in the New York and New Jersey area even though the weakened storm made landfall more than 1,000 miles away

Natural and some man-made ingredients came together, causing the weakened but still soggy remnants of Hurricane Ida to devastate the Northeast more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) away from its landfall. This sort of distant and deadly flooding from hurricanes has happened before, and meteorologists had warned that Ida could cause it. Although Ida had lost most of its 150 mph (240 kph) wind force, the storm kept its strong rainy core. Then it merged with a wet and strengthening non-tropical storm front, according to meteorologists and atmospheric scientists. When this happens, “very exceptional rainfall can occur,” said MIT meteorology professor Kerry Emanuel.