[UPDATE] Category 1 Hurricane Sandy is centered at sea off the southern US while heading North. She is predicted to turn left and land between the Chesapeake Bay, Southern New Jersey, and New York. There Sandy will combine forces with two winter weather fronts. Areas from the Carolinas to Canada, from Ohio to Maine, are in store for heavy rain or snow over much of the coming Halloween week. Hurricane Sandy earlier trounced Cuba, Jamaica, and the Bahamas, with winds over 100mph and causing the deaths of an estimated 43 people.
A Monster Storm
In the rush these days to give every phenomenon an internet meme, Hurricane Sandy, the late season superstorm of 2012, is being called “Frankenstorm”, “October Surprise”, and bigger than the “Perfect Storm” of 1991.
Three weather fronts are converging over the mid-Atlantic early next week in what meteorologists call an “atmospheric bomb”: 1 – Hurricane Sandy is bring warm wind and rain from the South with a massive tropical depression. 2 – From the Pacific is a second major storm front that has dropped temperatures and snow across western part the country. 3 – An Arctic blast comes from Greenland… There’s this Jet Stream, sandwiched between Sandy and the snow storm, which on TV simulations appears to function as an enabler to spin up the two storms into a super storm while traveling through the NorthEast.
The infamous original “Perfect Storm” of 1991 happened at Halloween off the coast of New England and Nova Scotia Canada. The Perfect Storm was born as the remnants of Hurricane Grace met with a cold Nor’easter storm. Hurricane Sandy, or Frankenstorm, is worse. Predictions are describing more extreme conditions for 2012’s Perfect Storm. Whereas the 1991 Perfect Storm was centered offshore in the Atlantic Ocean, with the continent escaping from its most extreme fury (the subject of the movie “The Perfect Storm”), but Sandy is poised to strike at the most densely populated section of the United States. She will reach land on the full moon, which will augment the high tide and storm surge.
Your Government Service Hard at Work
The NOAA National Weather Service, Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC), predicts “dangerous hurricane/post-tropical cyclone Sandy is likely to spread high winds, heavy rains and interior heavy snows from the Carolinas and Central Appalachians northward into Canada.” The HPC report, valid through Friday, November 2, 2012, describes the models that predict the storm behavior:
“…SHOW PRESSURE SOLUTIONS WELL BEYOND WHAT HAS EVER BEEN OBSERVED NEAR THE NEW JERSEY/NEW YORK COAST (EVEN EXCEEDING THE 1938 LONG ISLAND EXPRESS HURRICANE) EARLY IN THE MEDIUM RANGE PERIOD.”
“…SHOW A VERY STRONG BIAS WITH TROPICAL CYCLONES GAINING LATITUDE AND/OR TRANSITIONING INTO NON-TROPICAL STORMS OVER THE PAST COUPLE YEARS… INCLUDING (BUT NOT EXCLUSIVE TO) LESLIE 2012…ISAAC 2012…DEBBY 2012 IN THE WESTERN SUBTROPICAL ATLANTIC IRENE 2011 AND IGOR 2010.”
The October Surprise
Surprise, the 2012 presidential campaign season is now closed! Everyday folks, who perhaps were growing weary to the constant partisan, quasi-water-torture-style reporting of pre-election coverage, now turn their attention to the weather and survival needs. So-called undecided voters, in Swing States, if they are really still undecided, might consider the candidates’ real world positions, policies, or plans to address global warming, to strengthen our economy with alternative energy approaches, and to manage emergencies such as hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes. These are good discussion topics for home when our electricity goes out (as mine does in every storm). Tomorrow, I will early vote. Then I’m ready for one week of no power and no shopping for food. And I hope you will be too. Be safe.
NASA videos – Time Lapse of Sandy in the Carribean
View of Sandy from the International Space Station