Editing Perfect storm (section)

{{short description|Phrase}}
{{other uses}}
[[File:12L 1991-11-01 1900Z.png|thumb|right|Satellite image of northeast U.S. coast on November 1, 1991. Depicted is the [[1991 Perfect Storm]].]]
A '''perfect storm''' is a meteorological event aggravated by a rare combination of circumstances.<ref name="Rts20080101"/> The term is used by analogy to an unusually severe [[storm]] that results from a rare combination of [[Meteorology|meteorological phenomena]].

Before the early 1990s, the phrases "[[Storm of the Century (disambiguation)|storm of the century]]" or "perfect storm" were generally used to describe unusually large or destructive storms.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Chameides|first1=Bill|title=What makes a storm 'super'|url=http://blogs.nicholas.duke.edu/thegreengrok/what-makes-a-storm-super/|website=Duke’s Nicholas School blog|access-date=27 April 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428053434/http://blogs.nicholas.duke.edu/thegreengrok/what-makes-a-storm-super/|archive-date=28 April 2017}}</ref> The term '''superstorm''' was employed in 1993 by the US [[National Weather Service]] to describe [[1993 Storm of the Century|a Nor'easter in March of that year]].<ref>{{cite report |author=National Weather Service, U.S. Department of Commerce |title=National Disaster Survey Report: Superstorm of March 1993 |url=https://www.weather.gov/media/publications/assessments/Superstorm_March-93.pdf |access-date=27 April 2017 }}</ref> The term is most frequently used to describe a [[weather pattern]] that is as destructive as a [[hurricane]], but which exhibits the cold-weather patterns of a [[winter storm]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Conklin|first1=Al|title=What's in a name? Sandy: Hurricane or Superstorm?|url=http://www.wsfa.com/story/21807734/whats-in-a-name-sandy-hurricane-or-superstorm|access-date=27 April 2017|publisher=WSFA|date=2013}}</ref>