East Coast Braces for Hurricane Sandy, Wintry Storm Collision
East Coast Braces for Hurricane Sandy, Wintry Storm Collision
he pre-Halloween hybrid weather monster that federal forecasters call “Frankenstorm” is looking more ominous by the hour for the East Coast, and utilities and local governments are getting ready.
Hurricane Sandy, having blown through Haiti and Cuba and leaving at least 40 dead, continues to barrel north as the lowest category hurricane, just as a wintry storm is moving across the U.S. from the west, and frigid air streams south from Canada.
And if they meet Tuesday morning around New York or New Jersey, as forecasters predict, they could create a big, wet mess that settles over the nation’s most heavily populated corridor and reaches as far west as Ohio.
Meteorologists expect a natural horror show of high wind, heavy rain, extreme tides and maybe snow to the west beginning early Sunday, peaking with the arrival of Hurricane Sandy on Tuesday and lingering past Halloween on Wednesday.
“It’s looking like a very serious storm that could be historic,” said Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the forecasting service Weather Underground.
With a rare mix of three big merging weather systems over a densely populated region, experts predict at least $1 billion in damage.