Sandy Leaves the Scene
Wednesday noon
In today's video, we look at the weather outlook through the coming weekend and early next week. The weather will generally favorable for the massive restoration and repair efforts now underway in the wake of Sandy. The chill is a challenge for keeping warm when there is no power, yet it is not cold enough to preserve food that could not be kept refrigerated or frozen.
One interesting feature is a storm that the GFS places along the East coast next Tuesday. Last night's ECMWF also had a storm nearby. Anytime during the colder parts of the year when there is a coastal storm and cold air is nearby, there is concern about snow. Since Tuesday is Election Day, any storminess may be an issue. We'll be watching this with you during the next few days.
A few people have asked why the storm's winds from the middle of Pennsylvania to the middle of New York state were not as strong as they might have been. This map does not show the root cause of this occurrence, but in the pressure pattern, you can see the greater separation in the isobars in that area compared with the situation around the rest of the storm. This map shows the setup about 6-12 hours after the highest winds had occurred, but the shape was similar then.
Amazingly, the European model suggested this northward elongation in its forecast 210 hours in advance. It was a little slow on the storm's position but it was still an impressive forecast:
Randy Adkins, one of our fine meteorologists at AccuWeather, compiled this summary (as of Tuesday night) about Sandy:
While there were many differences, Sandy was New York City's Katrina.
HIGHEST RAINFALL TOTALS BY STATE: ***Andrews AFB, Md.: 15.3" (unconfirmed) Easton, Md.: 12.55" Wildwood Crest, N.J.: 11.91" Georgetown, Del.: 10.20" Reedville, Va.: 9.90" Salvo, N.C.: 8.09" Maysville, W.Va.: 7.75" Hanover, Pa.: 7.61" Washington, D.C. (5.1 NW) : 5.83" Kirtland, Ohio: 5.69" Gorham, N.H.: 4.85" Whitesville, N.Y.: 4.83" North Ashburnham, Mass.: 3.70" Woonsocket, R.I.: 1.87"
HIGHEST WIND GUSTS BY STATE: Eatons Neck, N.Y.: 94 mph Tompkinsville, N.J.: 90 mph Westerly, R.I.: 86 mph Madison, Conn.: 85 mph Cuttyhunk, Mass.: 83 mph Allentown, Pa.: 81 mph Highland Beach, Md.: 79 mph Chester Gap, Va.: 79 mph Bath, Maine: 76 mph Fort Gratiot: Mich.: 74 mph Stowe, Vt.: 72 mph Goshen, N.H.: 70 mph Cleveland, Ohio (BKL): 67 mph Ranson, W.Va.: 65 mph
HIGHEST SNOW AMOUNTS BY STATE: Redhouse, Md.: 29.0" Davis, W.Va.: 28.0" Norton, Va.: 24.0" Faust, N.C.: 24" Gatlinburg (7SE, in the mountains), Tenn.: 22.0" Payne Gap, Ky.: 14.0" Champion, Pa.: 13.0" Bellefontaine, Ohio: 4.5"
POWER OUTAGES: 7.4 million By comparison, Hurricane Ike had 7.5 million over his entire path.
TOP WAVES: 39.67 feet (Buoy #41048)
TOP STORM SURGES: The Battery, N.Y.: ~9 feet above normal Kings Point, N.Y.: ~12.5 feet above normal New Haven, Conn.: ~9 feet above normal
LOWEST PRESSURE (LAND): 945.5 mb (27.92" Hg) at Atlantic City, N.J.
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