Massive Hurricane Sandy Shuts Down News & Information

Oct 29: Stu Ostro, Senior Meteorologist, The Weather Channel has posted a commentary on the historical extreme weather event being played out on the east coast of the United States. As WIMS reported last week, a new study by Munich Re, one of the world's leading reinsurance companies, shows that North America has been most affected by weather-related extreme events in recent decades [See WIMS 10/22/12]. The publication -- Severe weather in North America: Perils · Risks · Insurance -- analyzes all kinds of weather perils and their trends. The latest development with Hurricane Sandy will certainly add to the insurance and reinsurance concerns with massive damages expected. Landfall is expected early this evening along with high tides.

 

    Ostro notes that, "History is being written as an extreme weather event continues to unfold, one which will occupy a place in the annals of weather history as one of the most extraordinary to have affected the United States. . . Early Monday morning, aircraft reconnaissance found a central pressure of 946 millibars, one of the lowest on record for a hurricane near that location, and maximum sustained winds which have increased to 85 mph.

    "A meteorologically mind-boggling combination of ingredients is coming together: one of the largest expanses of tropical storm (gale) force winds on record with a tropical or subtropical cyclone in the Atlantic or for that matter anywhere else in the world; a track of the center making a sharp left turn in direction of movement toward New Jersey in a way that is unprecedented in the historical database, as it gets blocked from moving out to sea by a pattern that includes an exceptionally strong ridge of high pressure aloft near Greenland; a 'warm-core' tropical cyclone embedded within a larger, nor'easter-like circulation; and moisture from the tropics and cold air from the Arctic combining to produce very heavy snow in interior high elevations. This is an extraordinary situation, and I am not prone to hyperbole."

    Subscribers Note: During the next few days WIMS will continue to publish, however, considering the devastating conditions from Hurricane Sandy combined with the nearness to the Presidential election, the availability of quality environmental and energy news and information is extremely limited. WIMS will continue to search for relevant news, but we expect it will be sparse.

    Access the complete commentary from Ostro (click here). Access maps and satellite imagery, watches, tracks, threats, radar, etc.(click here). Access NASA images and commentary on Hurricane Sandy (click here). Access the National Hurricane Center website for extensive information (click here). [#Climate]

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