Is it me or are these systems getting bigger and bigger

[malaise]

[sarcasmo]

1. Frankenstrom is one scary beast.

[malaise]

2. They're discussing it on local radio right now

A big wet mess with one billion dollars worth of damage???

[darkangel218]

5. Malaise, i see your star arrived finally :)

[malaise]

12. On Monday - I was pleasantly surprised

[darkangel218]

3. Here in Central FL we're expecting tropical storm winds all day tomorrow

And I'm scheduled to work a 12 hour shift out in the elements. I'll only have my car to take shelter for most of the time. Hope I won't get tree branches or power lines down on my vehicle :/

[malaise]

4. Stay safe

[darkangel218]

6. Ill try, thanx!!

[malaise]

9. Watching Jeopardy and just heard the emergency sound

with a Tropical Storm Watch for Miami Dade.
My Miami sis and I used to joke that a storm may be heading for Florida or Jamaica but never both - this climate change is serious - the water is sooooooooo hot.

[darkangel218]

17. Theyre just saying now on TWC that the hurricane is moving N-NW

That's not good at all.

[hobbit709]

7. Now you know that climate change is only a fragment of your imagination.

[malaise]

11. One of these days we'll have a super-hurricane

Let those who deny climate change supersize that.

[LisaL]

15. That comment has got to win a award for the most idiotic one ever.

[darkangel218]

18. Lmao! n/t

[cherokeeprogressive]

26. Yeah. Like, right over an orphanage or something huh...

I swear I will NEVER understand people like you. I think I'll be forever grateful for that.

[LiberalElite]

42. Yes, it's a hippydippy fantasy induced by excessive hashish smoking

[BumRushDaShow]

8. Good to see you made it through!

That thing may impact us here in Philly since it IS very wide. Some of the early tracks have it doing a bullseye here although I doubt that it will but we'll see!

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/AT18/refresh/AL1812W5_NL_sm2+gif/203625W5_NL_sm.gif

[malaise]

10. Every thing will depend on how long it slows down

What an end to this year's hurricane season - hope it becomes a fish storm.

[CrispyQ]

14. In one of David Brin's sci fi stories,

there are cyclones in the Pacific ocean that never die. They hit land, then spin back into the ocean & regain steam & eventually hit land again. Over & over.

I thought it was a fascinating concept & now I wonder when it will actually happen.

[malaise]

19. Don't rule it out

If there are other life forms on other planets, they must be glad to be light years away from us

[spanone]

16. climate change...

[malaise]

22. Think about it

Hurricane Sandy has spread her tentacles across the Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico - this system is massive.
It's affecting Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba, DR the Virgin islands, the Bahamas and Florida. That's hard to process.

[Blue_In_AK]

20. No, they're big.

We had some huge ones up here earlier this fall, as well. Sitting under a big cold high right now for a change of pace.

[darkangel218]

21. I dont feel comfortable at all with this monster only 200 miles away from from the FL coast nt

[darkangel218]

23. And there goes my satelite signal.

Pretty heavy rain bands passing thru at the moment.

[malaise]

29. Lots of rain with Sandy

It's still raining in Kingston.

[darkangel218]

31. Wow... did you lose power at all?

[malaise]

32. Yep - from about 5.00pm yesterday until

a little after noon today. About 45% of the island is still without power.

[malaise]

24. You only need to worry if she veers WNW or W

Truth is that rain and rough seas should make lifeguards run everyone out of the water this weekend.

[darkangel218]

25. Its already started veering towards W. initially it was supposed to go N

For a while. Now its NW.

[malaise]

27. Damn NNW now

You may get a few outer bands - moving at 17mph - hasn't slowed down yet.

[Art_from_Ark]

28. Check out this storm from 1993:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Storm_of_the_Century

[malaise]

30. That's a biggie

[darkangel218]

33. I think i'll have some ice cream :) i need to cheer up

Besides we might lose power, I better eat it now lol

[malaise]

35. LOL - that's what we did last night

Hahahaha - enjoy

[darkangel218]

36. Thanks, i will! Ice cream always works! :p

[malaise]

38. You have nothing to worry about

but enjoy the ice cream

[nadinbrzezinski]

34. No it is not and the observation matches

the predictions, gosh darn it, those cute scientists and their fancy math!

[malaise]

37. LOL

I'll take them over those dumb ReTHUGs every day of the week

[kurt_cagle]

39. Bigger and wetter

These storms have pressures in the neighborhood of 950 mb, which is typical of a cat 2 or 3 storm, but have a large areal extent and winds more typical of a Cat 1 storm. The reason for this is simple - they are picking up warmer water vapor at higher air temperatures and holding it for longer. The higher vapor density is indicative of greater energy in the system, and also means that these storms move slowly, pack more of a wallop at lower wind speeds and last for longer.

Re: David Brin's storms. Those may come to pass as well. The Jet Stream is weakening because the gradient between Arctic and temperate temperatures is diminishing. This reduces the speed at which weather moves, and makes possible the buildup of large stable high pressure domes. One consequence of this is that big mid-oceanic storms became semi-permanent. Jupiter's Great Red Spot is an example of just such a storm.

[malaise]

40. You described Sandy's behavior in Jamaica yesterday perfectly

in your first paragraph

[Joe Shlabotnik]

41. yup, and it gets worse...

[darkangel218]

43. I cant sleep, im too worried :(

[malaise]

44. You should be feeling better now

This is one huge system

[darkangel218]

45. Good morning Malaise. Yes i do. i didnt get much sleep last night, but im at work now

And so far is just really windy. They're not anticipating TS winds inland. We managed to dodge it, but now I'm worried about our neighbours up north. Hopefully they have enough time to prepare.

[EnviroBat]

46. Never in my life would I have imagined a hurricane could have effects in the Great Lakes state.

But right here in central Ohio, we were blasted by the remnants of Hurricane Ike back in September of 2008. I saw trees snap and fall over crashing to the ground and smashing everything under them. I saw the neighbors roof torn off and tossed into the back yard like some giant card table. We are going to get hit with this one. I'm quite sure of it. I am prepared with a huge generator, and provisions. We tend to lose power here even in the event of a simple summer storm. The point is, these storms are getting bigger and more intense. Never in my 45 years have I seen weather like this. A cloudy, rainy day can bring tornado-like conditions more often than not. Lightning strikes more dangerous and frequent than ever. Anyone who denies global warming deserves a broken jaw at this point. We have caused this. The melting of arctic ice has changes the ocean currents providing more warm water resulting in stronger, more intense storms. Anyone of even moderate intelligence can see this unfolding right in front of us.

[malaise]

50. You are 100% correct

I remember Ike in Ohio - that was shocking to me

[kentauros]

52. Ike was one nasty storm!

And it was "only" a Cat-2 storm. It did more damage locally than the Cat-3 storm Hurricane Alicia in 1983. Due to what we were going through after Ike, I'm afraid I wasn't too aware of its effects further up the line. But I'm very glad to see you aren't dismissing this current storm and are prepared. I hope your experience gets through to more people here

Stay safe, and I hope it peters out or turns away from the coast

[EnviroBat]

54. I remember that the sun was shining.

I was out riding on my Harley, and the sun was shining, and by all intents and purposes it was a beautiful day. Then the wind started. I was sitting at a red light when a gust of wind nearly blew me over! I quickly rode home, and got parked in the garage. An hour later it was complete bedlam outside. Trees whipping, power out, the house was creaking against the storm. I thought I was going to lose my roof. That was not as powerful a hurricane as this current one is turning out to be. We are stocking up on everything tonight. I hope this isn't as bad as my "Spidey Sense" is telling me...

[kentauros]

55. I hope it's not bad for y'all either.

Storms are scary shit even when you know they're coming. Being prepared is always better than blowing it off, so to speak. It sounds like you'll do fine no matter what happens

I just wish there was some way for those that are dismissing this storm to personally experience the worst of it without it doing anything to those of you that are taking it seriously. I know, y'all can ship them down to the Gulf Coast during the months of August and September next year

[malaise]

65. Wow

Glad you got home Stay safe

[Odin2005]

61. Off topic, but your gibbon gif is HILARIOUS!!!

[EnviroBat]

68. Yeah, he still makes me chuckle...

[ananda]

47. It's not just you!

..

[randome]

48. Maybe you're getting smaller and smaller?

[theKed]

49. Wow

That's almost Chris Christie-sized.

[malaise]

51. Ouch!!!

and just as breathless

[sofia14x]

53. Is it me or are these systems getting bigger and bigger

this hurryicane comea aftere a along time
these are going biggerand biiger
i m also shocked when i just this
is that really??

[darkangel218]

56. umm ok

[malaise]

58. Huh?

You were saying?

[Odin2005]

59. Sandy's size is being pumped up by the frontal system west of her.

In meteorology jargon it's called baroclinic support. The line of convention on the NW part of the storm is turning into a kind of warm front.

My God, she is enourmous!

[malaise]

60. When I posted this she was still affecting Jamaica, Haiti

DR and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean sea, about to hit the Bahamas in the Atlantic and there were tropical storm warnings for Florida so she was still in the Caribbean, affecting the Atlantic and bits of her were in the Gulf og Mexico - she is beyond a plus-size hurricane and yes now she is being pumped up by that system.
Thanks for that new concept 'baroclinic support' - never heard of it before.

[Odin2005]

62. It's that support that is keeping her at hurricane strength...

...despite wind shear and sucking in a lot of dry air south of her. She's not fully tropical, anymore. She's turning into a Nor'easter, like Hurricane Grace, the "Perfect Storm", did in 1991.

[malaise]

63. My real problem with Sandy is that 951mb pressure

Add to that snow and Noreaster characteristics and KABOOM - this is trouble

[NotThisTime]

64. climate change is real/nt

[limpyhobbler]

66. It's pretty big.

I've heard a couple conflicting things, either it was the biggest or second biggest since record-keeping began.

Hurricane Sandy is already setting records
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2012/1028/Hurricane-Sandy-is-already-setting-records

[malaise]

67. Thanks for that link

If all the experts are worried we should be worried