Hurricane #Sandy - Live coverage by ATS members

Although quite far from the East Coast, SE Michigan is feeling the mega-storm.

Lakes Huron, Superior and Michigan are expecting gale force winds and extremely high waves...perhaps up to 33 feet on Lake Michigan.
And, gusts up to 50 mph even this far from the eye of the storm.

Not expecting much rain out of this, but raw temps for this time of year....and winds.

Originally posted by DontTreadOnMe
Although quite far from the East Coast, SE Michigan is feeling the mega-storm.

Lakes Huron, Superior and Michigan are expecting gale force winds and extremely high waves...perhaps up to 33 feet on Lake Michigan.
And, gusts up to 50 mph even this far from the eye of the storm.

Not expecting much rain out of this, but raw temps for this time of year....and winds.

Is this from Sandy or that winter storm?

I am the only one here who is a little confused about the level of (over)reaction to this particular hurricane.

The wind speeds predicted 60-90 mph while strong are far from catastrophic. This is the equivalent of a winter storm which happens every year in the UK, at least once a month from Oct to Feb. 75 mph wind are not unusual.

What is unusual is the evacuations, the lock down on NYC, and the subway!! of all things. I mean IT'S UNDERGROUND!??

OK they're worried about the storm surge. Obviously images of Katrina are in peoples heads. But that was what a Cat 4 or 5. Sandy while large, is a Cat 2 MAX!!

So whats going on here??? I mean really??

Of course as usual everyone should take all precautions they feel are necessary for their own personal safety etc listen to you local authorities etc etc!! blah blah!

To me it just seems like the CDC just quarantined the place because and ant farted!!!



Good luck everyone!

reply to post by JakiusFogg


Probably to do with the size of the storm rather than wind speeds (would be my UK based guess). I would wager that a storm of that size would have a truly huge amount of rain within it, added to the expected storm surge of 11 feet. The surge is expected to be so high because Sandy is now over 1000 miles wide - a truly spectacular amount of energy will be contained within a storm that size.

I had also heard that it would coincide with high autumnal tides but i can't remember where i heard that (so it may not be accurate).

I am pulling the overnight shift at work here is Southwest PA tonight. I have a couple of decks of cards, change of undies and socks, personal sundries, fully charged cell phone, meds, and warm gear. Likelihood of getting stuck at work all night with no power? Fairly high since the power goes out when someone passes gas around here. Likelihood of being allowed to close up and go home? Nil.

Won't be able to keep you posted until after the fact since I will need to save cell battery for emergency calls, but will be praying for everyone who is going to be and has been affected by this thing.

Originally posted by JakiusFogg
I am the only one here who is a little confused about the level of (over)reaction to this particular hurricane.

The wind speeds predicted 60-90 mph while strong are far from catastrophic. This is the equivalent of a winter storm which happens every year in the UK, at least once a month from Oct to Feb. 75 mph wind are not unusual.

What is unusual is the evacuations, the lock down on NYC, and the subway!! of all things. I mean IT'S UNDERGROUND!??

OK they're worried about the storm surge. Obviously images of Katrina are in peoples heads. But that was what a Cat 4 or 5. Sandy while large, is a Cat 2 MAX!!

So whats going on here??? I mean really??

Of course as usual everyone should take all precautions they feel are necessary for their own personal safety etc listen to you local authorities etc etc!! blah blah!

To me it just seems like the CDC just quarantined the place because and ant farted!!!

Good luck everyone!

Winds of that speed in conjunction with the building styles of the east coast, trees with leaves, and lots of glass and brick is bad.

The NYC subway is at risk of major flooding due to the storm surge. Same with the subway in a lot of coastal cities if applicable.

Not to mention this is the most densely populated region of the country, from DC to Boston. We're packed in here.

Winter storms don't bring along storm surges, and I doubt they do in the UK either.

We were hit with a severe thunderstorm during the heatwave in june that knocked out power for weeks for a lot of people. At one point something like 3-5 million were powerless. Imagine that on a larger scale, with cold weather now.

Originally posted by Flavian
reply to post by JakiusFogg

 

Probably to do with the size of the storm rather than wind speeds (would be my UK based guess). I would wager that a storm of that size would have a truly huge amount of rain within it, added to the expected storm surge of 11 feet. The surge is expected to be so high because Sandy is now over 1000 miles wide - a truly spectacular amount of energy will be contained within a storm that size.

I had also heard that it would coincide with high autumnal tides but i can't remember where i heard that (so it may not be accurate).

It's a typical full moon. Lunar tide is high.

Originally posted by Ceriddwen
I am pulling the overnight shift at work here is Southwest PA tonight. I have a couple of decks of cards, change of undies and socks, personal sundries, fully charged cell phone, meds, and warm gear. Likelihood of getting stuck at work all night with no power? Fairly high since the power goes out when someone passes gas around here. Likelihood of being allowed to close up and go home? Nil.

Won't be able to keep you posted until after the fact since I will need to save cell battery for emergency calls, but will be praying for everyone who is going to be and has been affected by this thing.

Where do you work? If you don't mind.

It has begun. The end...

Originally posted by JakiusFogg
I am the only one here who is a little confused about the level of (over)reaction to this particular hurricane.

The wind speeds predicted 60-90 mph while strong are far from catastrophic. This is the equivalent of a winter storm which happens every year in the UK, at least once a month from Oct to Feb. 75 mph wind are not unusual.

On this part I am in 100% agreement with you.

What is unusual is the evacuations, the lock down on NYC, and the subway!! of all things. I mean IT'S UNDERGROUND!??

On this part I have to question how familiar you are with NYC and the area. Fact is, many spots of the city are barely above sea level. The storm surge predicted will flood the subway system and many parts of lower Manhattan. There is a TV program produced by the Weather Channel called "It could happen tomorrow". To get a good idea of this area in relation to Hurricanes and flooding, I highly recommend this show and an episode they did about a Hurricane hitting NYC, which is long over due.

OK they're worried about the storm surge. Obviously images of Katrina are in peoples heads. But that was what a Cat 4 or 5. Sandy while large, is a Cat 2 MAX!!

The size of a hurricane has very little to do with storm surge. Katrina had an 11 foot storm surge on a city that was actually below sea level. Current projections for this storm is a storm surge of 6-11 feet (down from 20 feet in earlier reports). To give some context- Battery Park in NY during Hurricane Irene saw a storm surge of 4 feet, and it was under water.


So now double or triple this, and you can easily see how this water can flood down into the subway system.

reply to post by JakiusFogg


1. Flooding - NYC was built upon a flat coastal plain. With a storm surge and high tide, the sea will rush inland and flood the plains. Structures built underground usually have embarkments, but with high tide and water level expected to be above 5 feet, it will overflow into the subways, not to mention natural seepage from tunnels from heavy water pressure.

Better to clear out, than to be stuck in the subway. It will be a nitemare, for both civilians and rescue officers for rescue operations.


2. Winds of 60 -75km/hr will not do much damage as in ordinary storms. But Sandy is NO ordinary storm. It is massively huge and when combine with the northern cold weather front, it would mean SUSTAINED high wind speeds lashing upon the city scape FOR DAYS, not a few hours that storms or hurricane usually last.

Sandy is.....NOT NORMAL.

A tree branch can resist the strength of such winds, perhaps for a few hours. BUT DAYS? How long can concrete and metal accept such wind stress for prolonged sustained time? Not much. Something will have to give. NYC is not exactly a flat level land. Plenty of trees, concrete and metal. Sandy is 48hrs of high winds, not 1 hour as of storms.

I ...dare not....imagine the damage. At least it is only material. May the rest whom had ignored the evacuation orders leave now before the roads get flooded and threatened every step by flying debris. As for the brave emergency personel, take all precautions, as your life is just as precious as another. As for reporters there...stay safe. Life is more important than a news story.

reply to post by unphased


OK I can understand concern about high rain fall flash floods etc. However with those wind speeds i wouldn't be too concerned about structural damage, No unless you get sustained speeds above 85mph - 90 mph. And I mean SUSTAINED not gusting.

As for the surge, I haven't heard much about it to be honest. so I guess we'll have to see

The bigeest problem I can foresee is going to be damage to power lines with tree coming down. Now that I can see being the main problem here.

Originally posted by SeekerofTruth101
reply to post by JakiusFogg

 

1. Flooding - NYC was built upon a flat coastal plain. With a storm surge and high tide, the sea will rush inland and flood the plains. Structures built underground usually have embarkments, but with high tide and water level expected to be above 5 feet, it will overflow into the subways, not to mention natural seepage from tunnels from heavy water pressure.

Better to clear out, than to be stuck in the subway. It will be a nitemare, for both civilians and rescue officers for rescue operations.


2. Winds of 60 -75km/hr will not do much damage as in ordinary storms. But Sandy is NO ordinary storm. It is massively huge and when combine with the northern cold weather front, it would mean SUSTAINED high wind speeds lashing upon the city scape FOR DAYS, not a few hours that storms or hurricane usually last.

Sandy is.....NOT NORMAL.

A tree branch can resist the strength of such winds, perhaps for a few hours. BUT DAYS? How long can concrete and metal accept such wind stress for prolonged sustained time? Not much. Something will have to give. NYC is not exactly a flat level land. Plenty of trees, concrete and metal. Sandy is 48hrs of high winds, not 1 hour as of storms.

I ...dare not....imagine the damage. At least it is only material. May the rest whom had ignored the evacuation orders leave now before the roads get flooded and threatened every step by flying debris. As for the brave emergency personel, take all precautions, as your life is just as precious as another. As for reporters there...stay safe. Life is more important than a news story.

They're shutting down tunnels all up and down this coast now. #NYC tunnels closing at 2pm I believe.

What score is it?

reply to post by MrWendal


Fair enough, its good to get some real information on this. All I have heard so far is panicing end of the world stuff.

Words like FRANKENSTORM dont help.

Useful information you have there??

reply to post by SeekerofTruth101


OK I agree on your first point, but the second. Hmmmm

A sustained 60 to 70 wind will not break concrete or metal. even is sustained for days. if it did the entire UK and Ireland would be scoured clean!

OK so it's not a normal storm, but from what I see here, to be honest I don't think the wind is going to be the biggest problem. remember as soon as it makes land fall it will lose power.

reply to post by JakiusFogg


they are saying on the news that the winds will be SUSTAINED at 80-90 mph. gusts up to 125. it's already gusting at over 60 mph and it's still hours away from landfall. it MIGHT even gain more strength.

reply to post by JakiusFogg


I understand where you are coming from. This type of fear mongering is not unusual with these storms. Especially from our media.

I like to look at the data. The data always tells the story. Combine that with some simple common sense, and one knows what to expect.

Originally posted by antar

Originally posted by 12MoonCats
Hi all! Whats going on with Boston, what are the predictions ? My daughters there!

Not sure but wanted to bump your question.

I answered this post on page two. Nothing new to report but wind gusts are a little stronger.

reply to post by swan001


sun is now gone..getting darker by the minute..not raining though and wind is nothing out of the ordinary