United States

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

October 29, 2012; 6:00 AM

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Sandy will bring damage and disruptions to the Baltimore area even though landfall near Atlantic City, N.J. is forecast around 6:00 p.m. Monday.

Conditions will deteriorate in Baltimore Monday afternoon with the worst conditions Monday night.

At this time AccuWeather.com meteorologists expect wind gusts in the neighborhood of 60 to 70 mph in the city. However, higher gusts are possible in between buildings, over the open water and at crane level.

Gusts this strong will down trees, power lines, send loose objects airborne and loosen panes of glass in tall buildings. Walking through city streets will be difficult and dangerous. Avoid walking or parking under trees. Large branches can come down with no notice.

A general 4 to 8 inches of rain will fall with the greatest amounts likely in northern Maryland. Enough rain will fall in the local area to bring flash, urban and small stream flooding.

Since the arm of heaviest rain will aim across northern Maryland and the West Virginia Panhandle, a significant rise will occur on the Potomac River with the potential for major flooding during the middle and second half of this week.

The full moon Monday will amplify tide levels, but the track of and wind flow around Sandy will not push the amount of water into the northern Chesapeake Bay like Isabel did. Winds into Monday night will have a significant westerly component and will tend to push water away from the Inner Harbor.

Since Sandy is such a large storm in terms of surface area, effects will be more than a hurricane hitting a small area.

According to AccuWeather.com's CEO Barry Myers, "Sandy is a hurricane wrapped in a winter storm."

There will be major impact due to wind and flooding, not only in the Baltimore-Washington, area, but as far north as New York City into portions of New England and as far south as eastern North Carolina.