Trapped centers around the consequences of a nor’easter on the seven students trapped at Tattawa Regional High school. As Weems describes in Chapter 1, New Englanders are familiar with nor’easters and the several feet of snow they can drop at a time. Weems points out that this particular storm is like nothing New England has ever seen. Nor’easters are like snow hurricanes. The storm in Trapped stalled partly over the ocean and partly over land. This allows it to continuously pick up steam from the water and keep up a steady snowfall. The nor’easter serves as both the setting and antagonist of the novel.

The impact of the storm on Tattawa Regional High School and its students increases in severity throughout the book. At the beginning, Weems and his friends don’t take the storm seriously. They’ve lived in New England their entire lives and think they know what to expect. Once they realize they’re stuck in the school overnight, they are sure the snow will slow and that they’ll have rides home in the morning. When the snow level is almost higher than the first floor of the school by morning, the trapped students realize this storm is different from past ones.