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AR GOP Senate Candidate Tom Cotton: Terrorists, Immigrants and Drug Cartels Want to Infiltrate Arkansas

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lawhawk10/08/2014 9:06:23 am PDT

re: #331 WhatEVs

Really? Sandy did all that damage and wasn’t even a Cat 1?

(busting out the old meterology class knowledge)
The Saffir Simpson scale used to describe hurricanes is based on top sustained wind speeds. It doesn’t factor size, storm surge, or populations affected.

Cat 1 is for storms with top sustained speed of 74+.

Irene and Sandy both had sustained speeds less than that at landfall. Sandy’s big damage wasn’t wind, but storm surge. Irene’s main damage was due to massive and widespread flooding.

The NWS treats Sandy as extratropical at landfall due to how the storm interacted with various fronts and airmasses.