Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy picked up strength and speed this morning and is now nearing landfall. Landfall should occur near extreme southern New Jersey or central Delaware by late afternoon or early evening.

Winds of 60 to 80+ mph Reported

Location	Top Wind Gust
Tuckerton, N.J.	88 mph
Westerly, R.I.	86 mph
Groton, Conn.	75 mph
Milford, Mass.	67 mph

• Wind gusts of 60 to 80+ mph have been reported in several coastal locations from Massachusetts to coastal New Jersey and coastal Maryland. Wind gusts have topped 60 mph in Boston and New York City.
• The National Weather Service has issued a statement indicating that damaging wind gusts of 70 to 90 mph are possible in the New York City metro area, Long Island and southern Connecticut through 8 pm EDT Monday.
• Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today directed the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to close New York City bridges at 7:00 PM today due to high winds.
• Downed trees, powerlines and other wind-related damage has been reported in Mass., Conn., R.I., N.Y., N.J., Pa., Vt. and N.H.
• Widespread downed trees, powerlines and power outages will continue through Monday night and early Tuesday. Some structural damage is also possible in areas with winds gusting above 70 mph. With stronger winds just above the ground, some high-rise buildings may have windows blown out.

More than One Million Without Power

• As of 6 pm Monday, The Weather Channel and weather.com News Desk reports that there is a total of more than 1.6 million customers without power across 15 states.
• The states with the greatest number of power outages are New York and New Jersey. Both of these states have more than 400,000 without power.

Next Peak Storm Surge this Evening

Surge Forecast

• With the first high tide cycle this morning, significant coastal flooding inundated many locations in southern New Jersey.
• The highest storm surge is expected along Long Island Sound and New York Harbor with the next high tide this evening.  Surge flooding will also reach its peak during high tide tonight along the Jersey Shore and the south coast of southern New England.
• In some of these areas, peak tide levels may top those from both Hurricane Irene by 2 feet!  Tide levels in Sandy Hook, N.J. have topped the previous record from the Dec. 1992 Nor'easter and Hurricane Donna in 1960!
• Coastal flooding will continue through additional tide cycles beyond Monday's peak into Tuesday afternoon, in some areas!

Appalachian Blizzard

Heavy Snow Forecast

• Up to 10 inches of snow was reported as far south as Newfound Gap, Tenn. at an elevation of 5,000 feet. In Wise County, Va., up to 5 inches of snow was reported. A weather observer near Snowshoe, W.V. reported 4 inches.
• Parts of the Appalachians above 2000 feet could see over 1 foot of snow.  Above 4000 feet, that total could top 2 feet!  Put simply, this could be the October snowstorm of record in some locations of the Appalachians from eastern West Virginia to northern North Carolina.
• Coupled with the high winds we mentioned earlier, the threat of downed trees, power outages, and, due to the weight of the heavy, wet snow, roof collapses exists with this storm.  Whiteout conditions are possible, at times.  Travel will be difficult, if not impossible.  

Courtesy of The Weather Channel