StormPatrol
Rare superstorm impact on southwest Florida
Hurricane Sandy is starting to move away from South Florida with winds at 75 mph, and is is now about 300 miles away from Southwest Florida, moving N/NW at 7mph. Sandy brought wind gusts near 40 mph on Friday, and will still contribute to windy conditions Saturday, when we have have gusts over 30 mph. Sunday will be less windy and also less humid.
Sandy will be a headline maker through the beginning of next week, as our partners at AccuWeather are calling it an extremely rare and dangerous storm which will turn in from the Atlantic, putting 60 million people in its path and could lead to billions of dollars in damage.
The worst of the storm will be Monday through Tuesday, but the storm's aftermath may linger days later. Conditions will deteriorate from the mid-Atlantic to southern New England Sunday and Sunday night.
Ripple-effect flight delays and cancellations are possible over a large part of the nation, as the storm will target major airports from Boston to Washington, D.C., with New York and Philadelphia in the middle. Many aircraft originate from or travel to these hubs on a daily basis.
Impacts from heavy rain and wind will be felt hundreds of miles inland and the power in some neighborhoods could be out for days.
Storm surge flooding will occur over a much larger area, when compared to a hurricane and more severe than a typical nor'easter. It is likely to be more than just a few waves over washing the seawall in the hardest-hit areas.
Sandy has the potential to bring historic storm surge flooding near and north of the center.
It is possible areas from New York City and Long Island to New Jersey, the Delmarva and into the Philadelphia areas have some of their worst coastal flooding on record, depending on exactly where the storm tracks.
Communities, neighborhoods, roads, rail yards, subway stations and other low-lying areas near the coast, generally north of the track can take on feet of salt water.
AccuWeather.com meteorologists are expecting a storm surge of 5 to 10 feet, but locally higher levels are possible near and just north of the storm track.
JIM SYOEN
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