An excellent explantion of what this storm may do in the NE.

[trumad]

The upper-air steering pattern that is part of the puzzle is not all that unheard of. It happens when the atmosphere gets blocked over the Atlantic and the flow over the U.S. doubles back on itself. Sometimes big winter storms are involved.

The freak part is that a hurricane happens to be in the right place in the world to get sucked into this doubled-back channel of air and pulled inland from the coast.

And the double-freak part is that the upper level wind, instead of weakening the storm and simply absorbing the moisture - which would be annoying enough - is merging with the tropical system to create a monstrous hybrid vortex. A combination of a hurricane and a nor’easter.

A simpler explanation: the clash of the cold blast from the continental U.S. and the massive surge of warm, moist air from Hurricane Sandy will cause the storm to explode and the pressure to crash.

These historic low pressure levels simulated by the model are equivalent to a category 3 or 4 hurricane, which have peak winds over 115 mph. But Sandy’s winds will not be that high, because as it transitions into this hybrid hurricane-nor’easter, its core will unwind. So its peak winds will diminish, but strong winds will be felt over a vast area. Think of a compressed slinky expanding as you let it go.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/hurricane-sandy-may-be-unprecedented-in-east-coast-storm-history/2012/10/26/4f6660e6-1f6e-11e2-9cd5-b55c38388962_blog.html

[1StrongBlackMan]

1. This proves it ...

climate change, and mankind's contribution to it, is a myth that should continue to be ignored!

[WilliamPitt]

2. The Boston Globe's weather page also has a lot of good info

Last edited Fri Oct 26, 2012, 11:43 AM - Edit history (1)

http://www.boston.com/news/weather/weather_wisdom/2012/10/sandy_will_hit_atlantic_coast.html

Very detailed.

[byeya]

3. Floods from sustained torrential rains is what I am worried about.

If the merged system slows down, there will be copious amounts of rain, I am afraid.(Snow farther north and in the mountains)