Mid lattitude Hurricane Sandy

[NZstorm]

Apparently this is going to be the deepest low pressure system to affect the New York region. Its extremely unusual for a Atlantic tropical storm to turn westward and move inland. The low is currently 950mbs as recently measured by the hurricane hunter. Technically Sandy is transitioning to a mid lattitude low.

[Manukau heads obs]

check out
http://www.aviationweather.gov/adds/sat ... e&itype=ir

its started the turn in land now...to follow the 'tail' (upper level steering wind flow)
and will interact with the cold front moving in the from the NW
to become the 'perfect storm'


also some beach cams (when its daylight)
http://www.vbbound.com/webcam/hampton-i ... nia-beach/

[bmo]

Great coverage by The Weather Channel live on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... XMU2qwCVag#!

[NZstorm]

The central pressure is 943hpa. An amazing low pressure for the lattitude.

[Manukau heads obs]

http://classic.wunderground.com/weather ... ?ID=M44065

http://classic.wunderground.com/wunderm ... 98&zoom=13

[Manukau heads obs]

this system is moving much faster than predicted by the looks

[TonyT]

Latest comments from Joe D'Aleo at Weatherbell:
8 am advisory has a central pressure of 946mb, 27.94 inches but recon reported 937mb (ofiicial update NHC has 943mb. Ryan believes deepening will continue perhaps down to 925mb at landfall!!.
Buoy DEMO2 at 39.6N and 71.7W reported east northeast winds 82 kts gust to 115 kts).
JFK already had a wind gust of 51 mph with the storm 310 miles to the southeast, High water level with the morning high tide at the Battery was already 4-5 feet above normal due to the combined lunar and fringe storm effects. It is the high tide at 9 pm tonight and 9 am tomorrow morning that the surge flooding will peak. Based on the latest data, the storm surge values for New York City have been increased into the 12-14 foot level! Previous storm surge records will be exceeded by 1-4 feet over the entire region potentially resulting in catastrophic damage!!!!

Also this was interesting, to give some historical context:
Remembering Hurricane Carol in 1954
I remember Hurricane Carol as a small boy. I grew up in New York City (Brooklyn). Each summer, my family would rent a beach house on Long Island Sound and my brother and I would spend the summer on the beach. The rest of the family would come out on Friday's and spend the weekends.
The summer of 1954 was a summer I will always remember. It was late August and we had not yet packed up to move back to the city for the fall and winter with Labor Day holiday still ahead.
I remember awakening to the roar of wind and driving rains on August 31. Our beach house was on a little peninsula out into LI Sound. The only road off the peninsula went past the police station right where the peninsula connected to Long Island. We were the last house on the road next to the marshes and right on the beach.
The waves began breaching the sand dunes that protected the beach homes from the ocean and flooding the yard. I recall seeing our toys and lawn furniture floating in the lake of salt water. I recall my frantic family calling the police station for advice whether to leave. The police told my family it was too late as the water had flooded the only exit road and they were abandoning their posts and heading inland.
The storm center passed over Long Island between Hempstead and Westhampton after 8:30 a.m. Gusts of 90 miles an hour were reported at the Republican Aviation plant at Farmingdale.
The strong northeast winds and storm surge had pushed water into Long Island Sound with a storm surge of 5 to 8 feet.
The police told us to go to the top floor and pray.
Water flooded the first floor before the center of the storm passed and wind switched from northeast to southwest and the water sloshed back out to sea. When the rains and strong winds on the backside of the storm abated, I recall walking with my family and the other families to the beach. The water that sloshed out to sea, left water levels many tens of feet lower than the lowest tide we had ever experienced there. Mollusks and many minnows and other fish were very confused by the event, even more than us humans, adults and young children alike.
It was the worst storm for the northeast since 1944 and the great hurricane of ’38, which we wrote about here. Edna and Hazel followed before 1954 was done. We traveled back out after Hazel to see whether more damage was done. Carol had the greatest impact on Long Island. The next year Connie and Diane produced massive flooding in the northeast.

[NZstorm]

JFK airport had a top gust of 69kts (127km/h) with average 46kts. That's a decent breeze.

[NZstorm]

The air pressure at Atlantic City got down to 948hpa. Thats the same lattitude as Napier!

[Manukau heads obs]

if it had been more compact then it would have been stonger winds near the center I would say

[Manukau heads obs]

lots of info here
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurri ... Sandy.html