Hurricane Sandy Nears East Coast

An anonymous reader writes "Scientists have been following and projecting Sandy's path with all the tools at their disposal: ocean buoys, radar and satellite imagery, and computer modeling. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also gathers information from special reconnaissance aircraft, which fly over hurricanes and can drop instruments into them to measure wind speeds, air pressure, temperature, and altitude. The latest data gathered on Hurricane Sandy point to an unprecedented and mighty tempest, scientists say." A couple of our East Coast offices are closed today and people have been told to work from home. Please share your storm stories, and updates while you still have internet access.

Comments

Wall St. Closed

[necro81]

Interesting factoid I heard on my way into work: all the major banks and trading centers in New York City are closed today in anticipation. The last time that happened due to weather was for Hurricane Gloria back in 1985. Given the fact that Wall St. is just a few blocks from the water on three sides, and all of about 5 feet above sea level (depending on the tides), I'm surprised it isn't more frequent than that.

Re:Wall St. Closed

[EvilSS]

I don't have to imagine that. A little farther north than Miami, but I remember Christmas of, I believe it was 1989, we had an inch of ice followed by about two inches of snow in Jacksonville, FL. Entire city had to shut down and people were stranded for up to a week because all the bridges had to be closed. There was nothing the road department could do. They didn't have the equipment to deal with it. Of course as a kid, I thought it was awesome.

No work?

[Anonymous Coward]

I live in south Alabama, we get plenty of hurricanes. I have to drive across Mobile Bay in order to get to work. Unless there is over 100mph winds, I have to go to work. I work in an office, punching buttons on a computer. The company that I work for has a main office in the effected area of this storm, and although the storm is still waaaay the fuck out in the Atlantic ocean (yes, it's waaay the fuck out since it's only 85mph winds), we get word that the main office is closing Monday (we got word on this Friday). I have never understood the mindset behind who I work for. I think a better question would be, "What is considered dangerous-enough weather to close an office?" Because here recently I had to drive across 7 miles of open water in over 100mph gusts, and many roads were closed due to flooding during hurricane Isaac.

cause and effect

[tverbeek]

It isn't so much a religious omen as a lesson in scientific cause and effect. Neither of the top two presidential candidates has been talking much lately about what's causing this sort of thing, but one of them (Romney) is promising not to do anything about it. If you can make it to the polls, keep that in mind.

Could be worse, HMS Bounty

[OffTheLip]

Abandoning ship into 25 foot lifeboats to battle monster seas is bad for the crew and hard work for the Coast Guard tasked with their safety. The graveyard of the Atlantic is set to claim another prize. http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2012/10/29/coast-guard-monitoring-tall-ship-in-distress-off-north-carolina-with-17-aboard/

Re:See what happens?

[deains]

It's the same everywhere really. Not a single snowflake can fall on Greater London without half the British press running a story about it, meanwhile in the North of England and Scotland, it could be 10 feet of snow and the media wouldn't even blink an eye. It's all about perspective, and the world experience of a journalist stuck working in a dingy skyscraper all day is very limited.

Snowfall

[CaroKann]

One interesting aspect about this storm is the snowfall. Snowfall is expected in WV and KY. Moisture from the storm is wrapping around into cold air in the higher elevations. A hurricane producing snow, how unusual! http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCPAT3+shtml/291149.shtml?

Re:Don't PANIC!

[gameboyhippo]

We all know this is a sneaky plot from the Romney camp to disenfranchise liberal voters by sending a massive 1000 mile storm in their path. Huff Post and Daily KOS told me so!

In all seriousness, if a storm does do significant damage to an area right before/at an election, what do we do? Is this a constitutional crises?

In N.Y., tidal surge is the concern.

[SternisheFan]

Where I am in Long Island, N.Y. we're predicted to get only 3" of rain from Sandy. The real issue here is the storm's 'tidal surge' to occur Monday evening throughout Tuesday. 75mph gusts, coupled with the full moon's high tide effect will be pushing ocean waves north over the entire southern edge of L.I., with an 11.5 foot surge expected around 9pm Monday night Evacuations in N.Y.C. and everyone south of Sunrise Highway (27) in L.I.'s Nassau County.

For a storm like this, there's nowhere for this water to go but to get pushed into the 'bowl' of Jamaica Bay and into N.Y.C., and to flood the southern parts of L.I. Also, since L.I. is basically one long 'beach' of sand with 6-10 inches of dirt on it, tree's roots grow spreading outward, not downward to anchor properly into the ground. With water-logged soil, the expected high winds are going to topple trees with ease, and L.I.'s power company is expecting outages to last for up to a week until all repairs are made. It's going to be one heck of a ride!

Re:Don't PANIC!

[PopeRatzo]

To make the joke less funny, since I have to explain it, the reason I chose Romney as the supposed cause of the storm and cries of disenfranchisement coming from the left is that it is more common to hear the left make arguments that the right somehow prevents the left from voting rather than the other way around. I'm not saying if they're correct or incorrect in their assessment, but they do make that complaint more.

I want to point out just how intellectually dishonest and morally questionable the very common argument that gameboyhippo is making actually is.

When you have voters being disenfranchised, these people in the "center" who are saying "Oh look, the people being disenfranchised are complaining about being disenfranchised. They're such crybabies" become a double-insult to those people. These are not hypotheticals. There is no "question" about whether there are organized attempts at voter suppression by the Right. There are people, today, in this country who are being prevented from voting in a carefully planned and executed strategy. People who are being registered to vote by Nathan Sproul for the Republican Party who are then having the addresses on their registration form changed so that when they show up to vote they will be required to cast a provisional ballot (which will not be counted). Hundreds of voter registration forms showing up in dumpsters. People in states where the Supreme Court said there can be no voter ID requirement being told that they will go to jail if they try to vote without an ID. Official government notices going to potentially Democratic voters from Republican government officials telling them to vote on November 8 when the election is on November 6.

And you're joking about how these people being disenfranchised are a bunch of whiners.

I do assume that you have "a side". You are on the side of the kind of civic cynicism that is poisonous to a society. Whether you meant to or not, you endorse a kind of zombie conventional wisdom that is hurting people. Not hypothetical people, but actual human beings.