The New York (NY) Post front page of January 26, 2015 announced a massive upcoming snowstorm as a “nor’beaster” (nor’easter + beast). The term had been used before to describe a New York City snowstorm. “Watch out NYC—the #snowicane is coming next week! aka #frankenstorm #Nor’beaster #Hurricarnage” was cited on Twitter on October 25 2012.
   
The website LittleBeasts used “Nor’Beaster” in 2008 and “Virginian Pilot…really ?  Was the best headline you could come up with for the storm Nor’Beaster?” was posted on Twitter on November 13, 2009. An annual NOR’BEASTER music festival began in 2012 in Killington, Vermont.
     
 
Wikipedia: Nor’easter
A nor’easter (also northeaster) is a macro-scale storm along the upper East Coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada; it gets its name from the direction the wind is coming in from the storm. The wind on land, therefore, will generally blow from the northeast. The usage of the term in North America comes from the wind associated with many different types of storms, some of which can form in the North Atlantic Ocean and some of which form as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. The term is most often used in the coastal areas of New England. A nor’easter is a low pressure area that often passes just off the New England and southeast Canada Atlantic coastline. Winds in the left-forward quadrant rotate onto land from the northeast. The precipitation pattern is similar to that of other extratropical storms. Nor’easters can cause severe coastal flooding, coastal erosion, hurricane force winds or blizzard conditions; these conditions are usually accompanied with very heavy rain or snow, depending on when the storm occurs. Nor’easters thrive on the converging air masses; that is, the polar cold air mass and the warmer oceanic air over the Gulf Stream.
       
LittleBeasts
Bergamot & Emrys declare the snow storm a Nor’Beaster!
The snow is beginning to fall on our first snow storm of 2008.
Bergamot & Emrys ventured out to see how deep the snow was getting…and maybe to pee a little.
 
Twitter
Nick Webb
‏@crealities
Virginian Pilot…really ?  Was the best headline you could come up with for the storm Nor’Beaster?  Really?  Come on.  Really?
11:09 AM - 13 Nov 2009
 
Twitter
Jack Kelly
‏@compliancex
Watch out NYC—the #snowicane is coming next week! aka #frankenstorm #Nor’beaster #Hurricarnage http://bit.ly/XYKhzp  Get ready!
12:59 PM - 25 Oct 2012
 
Twitter
Maria Molina
‏@FoxMariaMolina
NY Post calling the upcoming nor’easter a “Nor’beaster” @foxandfriends @reedtimmerTVN
6:48 AM - 26 Jan 2015
 
Twitter
Joy Fleisig
‏@datadivajf
Oh, for once the Post had an appropriate headline: NOR’BEASTER.
7:19 PM - 26 Jan 2015
 
Twitter
Scott Riek
‏@ScottRiek
Love regional language differences. Out east they call it a Nor’Beaster. In the Midwest we call it winter.
8:50 PM - 26 Jan 2015