ATLANTIC: Hurricane Sandy

[Jake Orosi]

Indeed; the Euro has a generally better track record this year for sure.

Hurricane forecasting is fairly close to spot on these days; not only insofar as track goes, but strength and impact forecasting. It absolutely amazes me that people still refer to modern hurricane forecasting as "hype"; but they do. I was all but lectured day before yesterday by an internet know-it-all who let me know that Sandy was nothing but a "thunderstorm" and would turn out to be "absolutely nothing, like Irene(!!!)".

 

[Jake Orosi]

Has anyone heard of Rev Michelle Hopkins? Just watched a video and it looks like the tin foil hat crowd is all over this. More of the ridiculous HAARP stuff.

Between those folks and the shortwave prophets insisting Sandy was the "righteous judgment of God upon the US" and praying for as much destruction as possible, it's pretty depressing.

 

[David Wolfson]

Her video, http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=o4P7Kr17RX8 is hilarious!

She's calling blooms of convection on the infrared satellite "aerosol chem dumps", and gravity wave cloud features "infrasonic undulations". Lordy, there are some crazy people out there!

 

[Jake Orosi]

Reminds me of a video I saw years and years ago, of a woman who just discovered a rainbow prism effect in her lawn sprinkler and made a video showing it off, lamenting about "all the stuff the government is putting in our air and water", and informing us that apparently these rainbow prism effects in sprinklers weren't around 20 years ago.

 

[Joshua T. Clark]

It is just the same ole John Birch society , Alex Jones loving, and 9/11 Truther tripe these nut cases peddle.

What about the "agitating" spikes seen on radar? I do not know what time that radar loop is from but it looks like a sunrise spike to me.

 

[Jake Orosi]

Have you seen the ones about "HAARP rings"? According to them, the "circular structures" that you tend to notice in the precip returns on the US radar mosaics aren't an artifact of radar-site range limitations, they're the actual structure of the HAARP-induced precip. Caused by the shape of the "weather beam" I guess. That they're always in the same place and always have a weather radar site at their exact center is purely coincidence.

 

[Timothy Finn]

Her video, http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=o4P7Kr17RX8 is hilarious!

She's calling blooms of convection on the infrared satellite "aerosol chem dumps", and gravity wave cloud features "infrasonic undulations". Lordy, there are some crazy people out there!

I just spent the last 11 minutes and 34 seconds laughing like a hyena at this. I typically don't pay these types much attention (well, any) but that is some imaginative stuff!

Tim

 

[Jake Orosi]

Been watching the video on TWC and CNN of the aftermath. This was one incredible storm; I'm wondering how it will measure up to past hurricanes in terms of damage. It's going to be up there.

Some helicopter footage from New Jersey

 

[B Ozanne]

Been watching the video on TWC and CNN of the aftermath. This was one incredible storm; I'm wondering how it will measure up to past hurricanes in terms of damage. It's going to be up there.

Some helicopter footage from New Jersey

I've seen estimates of $50-$100b. Seems reasonable, most of it being uninsured like the flood damage in Manhattan and the damage to infrastructure (subways and tunnels).

 

[John Olexa]

I was lucky.We didn't get half the rain or wind they were calling for. For me it was nothing more then a good 'ol fashion summertime type thunderstorm (wind & rain wise)

 

[Bill Hark]

I had essentially given up on Sandy as a system that would spawn tornadoes due to very low instability. Today, I saw a report from Canada that the remnants of Sandy spawned a tornado. Below is a link with some interesting video. I wonder how low the surface temperature was during this event.

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/ne...rier__QC_31_10_2012?ref=ccbox_news_topstories

Bill Hark

 

[Jeff Duda]

I had essentially given up on Sandy as a system that would spawn tornadoes due to very low instability. Today, I saw a report from Canada that the remnants of Sandy spawned a tornado. Below is a link with some interesting video. I wonder how low the surface temperature was during this event.

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/ne...rier__QC_31_10_2012?ref=ccbox_news_topstories

Bill Hark

Interesting little blurb:

Environment Canada has confirmed it as a weak tornado that was not associated with a thunderstorm.

So...then this must have been basically a cold air funnel that reached the surface? Given the proximity of the upper-level low to the location, this makes sense. However, I question that judgement, given surface obs at the time in that area (using linear interpolation...i.e., eyeballing) were in the upper 40s to lower 50s but nearly saturated and also in a broad region of convergence and positive vorticity. I would conjecture rather that this may have been a "cold-core" tornado, one produced by a thunderstorm with very little CAPE, but with enough instability and enough low-level vorticity to get a spin-up. Lapse rates from a nearby rawinsonde aren't the most supportive of that, but it does show some potential for some CAPE bounded by the surface and the 700 or 600 mb level. I would hesitate to call it a landspout even though similar processes can cause landspouts and cold-core tornadoes. Cloud bases were too low.

 

[Dave Gallaher]

@Shane Adams: just saw in another forum that Jerry Gaskill lost his house. He's had a tough year.

 

[cdcollura]

Good day all,

Chase log / coastal observation completed from Florida as Sandy passed to the east.

http://www.sky-chaser.com/sandy12.htm

The impressive wave shots were shot from the shore (Palm Beach, FL) as well as offshore aboard a SeaDoo watercraft.

Video of the wave action is also HERE: http://www.sky-chaser.com/sa12vid1.htm

 

[Elaine Spencer]

I had this thought after Isaac and it is even stronger than ever after Sandy: it might be time to consider revamping or enhancing the Saffir-Simpson hurricane rating scale. According to this scale, one of the biggest and most destructive storms in decades was only a Category 1 (and possibly not even "officially" a hurricane at all) upon landfall.

An Enhanced Saffir-Simpson Scale could factor in storm surge, size of the wind field, potential for inland flooding or other secondary impacts, in addition to sustained wind speed. If these effects were also considered, Sandy (and probably Isaac as well, due to its storm surge) would have bumped up at least a notch or two.

Or, the NHC/NWS could rate hurricanes after the fact, as is currently done for tornadoes, based on damage surveys and other data. Hurricane warning/advisory products could simply emphasize the most dangerous anticipated effects, without giving them a rating that might be misleading and lead people to think "well, if it's only a Cat 1 there's no need to evacuate," etc.