MRFers living in New England or Mid-Atlantic: Beware of FRANKENSTORM?

[the_poochies]

The TV weathercasters are having a ball comparing this brewing storm in the Atlantic with 1991's "The Perfect Storm."

Hurricane Sandy, a category 2 storm with winds of 105 mph, is churning north through toward the Bahamas this morning and is a key player in just how bad our weather will be from Sunday into mid-week. Forecasters at the National Weather Service warn that Sandy is forecast to track north up the eastern seaboard and potentially merge with a developing nor’easter, creating a powerful hybrid storm that has the potential to have devastating impacts along the Mid-Atlantic and New England coastlines.

The nickname weather forks have given this potential wet, windy mess is "Frankenstorm" and it is expected to impact the Northeastern US at the end of the weekend into early next week.

I'm already receiving updates from my local OEM, but I hope that Frankenstorm gives us less rain than Hurricane Irene, which put towns all over my neck of NJ under several feet of water.

[cbelt3]

"
THE HIGH DEGREE OF BLOCKING FROM EASTERN NORTH AMERICA ACROSS THE
ENTIRE ATLANTIC BASIN IS EXPECTED TO ALLOW THIS UNUSUAL MERGER TO
TAKE PLACE, AND ONCE THE COMBINED GYRE MATERIALIZES, IT SHOULD
SETTLE BACK TOWARD THE INTERIOR NORTHEAST THROUGH HALLOWEEN,
INVITING PERHAPS A GHOULISH NICKNAME FOR THE CYCLONE ALONG THE
LINES OF "FRANKENSTORM", AN ALLUSION TO MARY SHELLEY'S GOTHIC
CREATURE OF SYNTHESIZED ELEMENTS."

We now know that a Masters in Literature can get you a lovely job writing for the National Weather Service. What a wondrous bit of prose !

[dmann]

A friend who lives in Florida just said that her daughter's school will be closed tomorrow. My friend works at a university and believes they will be closing as well.

DM

[the_poochies]

cbelt3 wrote:
"
THE HIGH DEGREE OF BLOCKING FROM EASTERN NORTH AMERICA ACROSS THE
ENTIRE ATLANTIC BASIN IS EXPECTED TO ALLOW THIS UNUSUAL MERGER TO
TAKE PLACE, AND ONCE THE COMBINED GYRE MATERIALIZES, IT SHOULD
SETTLE BACK TOWARD THE INTERIOR NORTHEAST THROUGH HALLOWEEN,
INVITING PERHAPS A GHOULISH NICKNAME FOR THE CYCLONE ALONG THE
LINES OF "FRANKENSTORM", AN ALLUSION TO MARY SHELLEY'S GOTHIC
CREATURE OF SYNTHESIZED ELEMENTS."

We now know that a Masters in Literature can get you a lovely job writing for the National Weather Service. What a wondrous bit of prose !

Who said English majors are unemployable? milewith apologies to Mrs. Poochie)

[michaelb]

Hard to overstate how devasting Irene was last year to Vermont and NE. Every little stream and brook and gully is now understood to be something that can wash away your house, or road, or even town.

Really hope this misses.

[decay]

it's forecast to hit between DelMarVa and Long Island, NY.

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/phi/

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

[rz]

dmann wrote:
A friend who lives in Florida just said that her daughter's school will be closed tomorrow. My friend works at a university and believes they will be closing as well.

DM

Really? Where in Florida? Last weather report I saw had it coming no closer than 200 miles from the coast.

[dmann]

rz wrote:
[quote=dmann]
A friend who lives in Florida just said that her daughter's school will be closed tomorrow. My friend works at a university and believes they will be closing as well.

DM

Really? Where in Florida? Last weather report I saw had it coming no closer than 200 miles from the coast.
LOL! That's what my friend said! 200 miles away from her and she's amazed that they are closing the schools. She's near Melbourne.

DM

[decay]

here's the latest. better get the lifeboats ready.

http://epawablogs.com/the-great-hallowee...d-sandy-2/



This setup is truly a historical, once in a hundred year event, if it comes to fruition in the way that nearly all model guidance suggest. As a result, after a cloudy and rather rainy and breezy day on Sunday, conditions will deteriorate rather rapidly from southeast to northwest across the area starting sometime on Monday, and we can expect, in general across the entire area:

high winds sustained 40-60mph with higher gusts possible at the height inland, 60-80mph+ along the coastal areas, contributing to property, tree, and power line damage.
flooding rainfall on the order of 6-12'' in a 24-36 hour period, which will cause flash flooding, as well as possibly historic river flooding.
widespread power outages that can last for days if not weeks.
similar effects as Hurricane Irene last year for inland residents, if not worse, including all of eastern PA and New Jersey.
massive beach erosion and damage, along with destruction to poorly constructed homes and businesses along shore points.
coastal flooding and storm surge for a landfalling tropical system combined with a full moon, which enhances the wave action even further.

Because this storm will be so large, with such a massive windfield, the exact point at which the center crosses the coast won't be as important if this was a purely tropical system especially away from the coast. However, coastal areas that lie to the north of the storms center will have a much greater coastal flooding threat, due to the wind direction coming off the ocean for a prolnged period of time, over two or three high tidal cycles and during a full moon.

[CJsNvrUrly]

Looks like I bought that rowing machine just in time!