Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy is looking like it will be one of the nastiest storms to hit New England in a very long time. (It's already killed a bunch of people in the Caribbean.) I just saw on the news that the Atlantic City boardwalk has been damaged, and the storm isn't even really there yet. Public transport is shutting down in NYC, and hundreds of thousands of people are effected by an evacuation in that area alone. NYC and Long Island is expected to get the worst of the storm surge (possibly as high as 6-11 feet in places, not counting the waves), with heavier rain falling in the Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey areas. People have been or will be effected by this storm system all the way from South Carolina to Maine, if not farther.

Usually, hurricanes blow back out to sea. This time, the weather patterns to the northeast are behaving differently, pushing the hurricane down and to the left. I heard some mention of this having something to do with warmer air than usual over Greenland. As it interacts with the nor'easter and swings back into the US, it will also hit a cold front coming in from the west. Many in the news are referring to this as a "Frankenstorm," due to the combination of weather patterns and the proximity to Halloween. Also, two feet of snow are expected in parts of the Appalachians.

Obviously, there will be more to say over the next couple days as it actually makes landfall. It's expected to actually hit late tomorrow night/early Tuesday morning.

If you are in those areas, I hope you're getting ready.

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

If my sources seem haphazard and sloppy, it's because I actually got most of this info from watching The Weather Channel over the last couple days. I'll be getting back to that now, actually.

I hope everyone is able to safely ride this one out.

I hope they still manage to get out and vote.

I hope they consider climate change a serious issue.

I remember thinking this as I first heard about the storm's weird path yesterday. I assumed it had something to do with ice melting in Greenland altering wind patterns in the northeast. We could be seeing a lot more of this kind of thing in the future.

It's harder to stick your head in the sand when the beach has washed away.

My mom and I really lucked out. We just drove from Western New York to Florida.

No rain. A little breezy. That's it.

Google made an interesting crisis map.

After not being prepared for Irene, the state opened the flood gates and lowered the lake near me 5 feet, to stem some of the flooding. I hope that's enough. We had about 5 feet in my hard, two blocks from the lake.

Webcam atop the Times building

Yeah, there's been unseasonably warm weather parked over Greenland which meteorologists have said is partly to blame for the odd weather patterns of lows which have sucked Sandy off the normal path and created the stationary front along her leading edge, causing the storm to slowly grind along the eastern seaboard. I just heard that the jet stream from the southwest is probably going to pump even lower pressure into this leviathan, so it's possible it could intensify just before landfall.

ALL of coastal NJ is getting it prison-style.....without lube:

Ocean City, NJ's boardwalk


Downtown Ocean City, NJ

Where do they have you guys stationed?

It just picked up near me. Wind is blowing, rain is just starting, and according to my power company there's already a ton of outages near me.

Most of our guys are in town...on the island. I'm supposed to be in today, but the roads were impassable and I couldn't make it to the island. I was told "don't even try to make it." I've been detailed to an evacuation shelter on the mainland.

Heard on the radio this morning that Iowa has dispatched a bunch of electric company workers to Western New York to be ready to help get the power back up. I'm sure other places are doing the same thing. So, hopefully, the basic recovery of services won't take very long.

They are telling us to be prepared for being out up to a week.

Here in Connecticut CL&P has brought in 2,000 extra line workers and 700 tree contractors and crew.
After the disaster that was Irene they wanted to be better prepared. Which is more than fine by me. I had to work briefly this morning but was sent home after we received word CT State Police were closing all state roads.

I also heard that two New Jersey nuclear plants are likely going to be shut down so this could further affect some areas with power outages until the storm passes, and the NEA give the plants a green light. Glad to hear that a large number of resources are being brought to bear for the cleanup and recovery.

No one is having a hurricane party?

Pffft. Amateurs.

Not a hurricane, it's a Nor'easter. Difference being after we loose power our alcohol won't get warm and pissy.
Having spent 13 years in Florida I can honestly say I have never had a hurricane party either.

It's almost as if we're learning from past experiences and mistakes.

Yeah. It wasnt even mentioned in the debates. Not even once. In hindsight, that was a missed opportunity for Obama. But more importantly this shit needs to stop being a fucking partisan issue.

Also really worrying is that the corporate media never ever seems to address it.

Another fake photo:

I wanted one of the Statue with an umbrella instead of a torch, but I don't even own photoshop...(hint hint)

This one is scary.


We're getting a lot of rain here in WV. I was hoping we'd get the snow end of it. I'll take a snowstorm over a hurricane any day.