Hurricane Sandy (New York / New Jersey) Oct- Nov 2012

[gabba]

This will be an interestng one to watch:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/7867817/Frankenstorm-threatens-1billion-damage

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[Mark]

October 25, 2012 – NEW YORK - Much of the U.S. East Coast has a good chance of getting blasted by gale-force winds, flooding, heavy rain and maybe even snow early next week by an unusual hybrid of hurricane and winter storm, federal and private forecasters say. Though still projecting several days ahead of Halloween week, the computer models are spooking meteorologists. Government scientists said Wednesday the storm has a 70 percent chance of smacking the Northeast and mid-Atlantic. Hurricane Sandy in the Caribbean, an early winter storm in the West, and a blast of arctic air from the North are predicted to collide, sloshing and parking over the country’s most populous coastal corridor starting Sunday. The worst of it should peak early Tuesday, but it will stretch into midweek, forecasters say. “It’ll be a rough couple days from Hatteras up to Cape Cod,” said forecaster Jim Cisco of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration prediction center in College Park, Md. “We don’t have many modern precedents for what the models are suggesting.” It is likely to hit during a full moon when tides are near their highest, increasing coastal flooding potential, NOAA forecasts warn. And with some trees still leafy and the potential for snow, power outages could last to Election Day, some meteorologists fear. They say it has all the earmarks of a billion-dollar storm. Some have compared it to the so-called Perfect Storm that struck off the coast of New England in 1991, but Cisco said that one didn’t hit as populated an area and is not comparable to what the East Coast may be facing. Nor is it like last year’s Halloween storm, which was merely an early snowstorm in the Northeast. This has much more mess potential because it is a combination of different storm types that could produce a real whopper of weather problems, meteorologists say. “The Perfect Storm only did $200 million of damage and I’m thinking a billion,” said Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the private service Weather Underground. “Yeah, it will be worse.” But this is several days in advance, when weather forecasts are far less accurate. The National Hurricane Center only predicts five days in advance, and on Wednesday their forecasts had what’s left of Sandy off the North Carolina coast on Monday. But the hurricane center’s chief hurricane specialist, James Franklin, said the threat keeps increasing for “a major impact in the Northeast, New York area. In fact it would be such a big storm that it would affect all of the Northeast.” The forecasts keep getting gloomier and more convincing with every day, several experts said. Cisco said the chance of the storm smacking the East jumped from 60 percent to 70 percent on Wednesday. Masters was somewhat skeptical on Tuesday, giving the storm scenario just a 40 percent likelihood, but on Wednesday he also upped that to 70 percent. The remaining computer models that previously hadn’t shown the merger and mega-storm formation now predict a similar scenario. The biggest question mark is snow, and that depends on where the remnants of Sandy turn inland. The computer model that has been leading the pack in predicting the hybrid storm has it hitting around Delaware. But another model has the storm hitting closer to Maine. If it hits Delaware, the chances of snow increase in that region. If it hits farther north, chances for snow in the mid-Atlantic and even up to New York are lessened, Masters said. –Time

[Mark]

Sandy will continue moving northward north of the Bahamas Friday night, followed by a turn toward the north-northeast on Saturday and a turn toward the northeast on Sunday, before making a turn to the northwest early next week, with direct impacts expected for the Mid-Atlantic or Northeast U.S.

http://www.weather.gov/

[gabba]

More Info:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/7873003/US-Superstorm-threat-launches-mass-evacuations

http://t.news.uk.msn.com/world/hurricane-heading-for-us-east-coast

...and NOAA's Image of the day is interesting:

[gabba]

Further update:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/7875891/Superstorm-Sandy-sparks-evacuations


and Image

[gabba]

Sandy update:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/7875891/Monster-Hurricane-Sandy-batters-US-coast

Midday today - storm expected to reach the US mainland coast

The National Hurricane centre has a good site with lots of info on it - presumably to be updated as the storm moves through:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

Colour enhanced infra red here:

[Mark]

Heres a site with some pics of NY.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-10-29/postcards-underwater-new-york

[Deano]

Reports of a record 31.5 ft wave height at the entrance to NY Harbour

[gabba]

Some interesting stuff here:

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/29/us/tropical-weather-sandy/index.html?hpt=hp_inthenews

Some video here, including a wall collapsing, and a timelapse of the evolution of the storm:
http://edition.cnn.com/video/

and latest Noaa infrared

[Mark]

KCEN) -- Hurricane Sandy left the north east flooded but it is also leaving another byproduct, snow.

Two more feet of snow has added to an already record snowfall in the Great Smokey Mountains.

Officials at the Great Smokey Mountains National Park say this is the biggest snowfall on record for the month of October.

Usually, Newfound Gap, located in that area, gets about four-inches of snow this time of year
http://www.kcentv.com/story/19976296/record-snowfall-left-behind-from-sandy

[Mark]

November 4, 2012 – NEW YORK – Life was returning to normal in parts of New York and New Jersey, five days after Hurricane Sandy hit, but other areas were dark and isolated, authorities said. About 2.7 million customers in 15 states and the District of Columbia were without power Saturday, with at least some facing perhaps another week before it is restored, CNN reported. The U.S. death toll from Hurricane Sandy rose Saturday, reaching 113, the Los Angeles Times reported, up from 97 Friday. The newspaper said 48 of the deaths were in New York, followed by New Jersey with 24, Pennsylvania 14, Maryland 11, West Virginia seven and Connecticut four, North Carolina two, Virginia two and New Hampshire one. Residents of many beach towns on the South Shore of Long Island were waiting for power to be restored, and even for some sign someone was in charge, The New York Times reported. Vikki Quinn’s house in Long Beach was flooded and her possessions were piled in the yard. “I just keep waiting for someone with a megaphone and a car to just tell us what to do,” she told the Times. “I’m lost.” President Barack Obama convened a meeting of top emergency officials in Washington, with Govs. Chris Christie of New Jersey, Andrew Cuomo of New York and Dannel Malloy of Connecticut joining by telephone. White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters members of the Cabinet reported on their meetings with local officials, first responders and citizens, and the president spoke individually during the meeting with the governors and local officials, asking whether there are “additional federal resources that could be brought to bear to meet some of the needs in their communities.” Earnest said the president also got a briefing from the National Weather Service on a storm forecast to reach the U.S. Northeast Wednesday. Forecasters said the system could come with high winds, substantial rainfall and perhaps cooler temperatures. Lights were back on Saturday in most of Manhattan. Subway trains began running between Manhattan and the Long Island boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens for the first time since the storm flooded the tunnels under the East River, the Times said. Cuomo said about 60 percent of those in New York who lost power had it back by Saturday. On Long Island, however, more than half of the 1.2 million homes and businesses affected by the storm were still in the dark. “We are getting through it,” Cuomo said at a news briefing. “The worst is behind us.” Gas remained in short supply. Cuomo said 8 million gallons had been delivered, with 28 million more expected from commercial sources and 12 million from the Defense Department. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and other top officials were to visit some of the worst-hit areas. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg Friday announced the opening of the first of several disaster assistance service centers that will provide information about applying for emergency social and economic benefits. All of the centers will be operated by the city’s Human Resources Administration in cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and will be open seven days a week. As of Friday afternoon, more than 98,000 people in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut had registered for federal assistance and more than $40 million in aid has been approved, a statement by the Federal Emergency Management Agency said. New York City inspectors are posting color-coded placards on buildings and homes to warn people not to enter some buildings. –Equities
 

[gabba]

Impressive animation from the University of Delaware showing the merging of Sandy and srorms from the west

http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2013/nov/animation110212.html

and a description of how it was made:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121105140109.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fearth_climate+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Earth+%26+Climate+News%29