Concerns rising over Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy has already passed through The Bahamas, at which time it was classified as a Category 2 storm. It now appears to be moving north toward the Atlantic coast and could hit the eastern United States shore sometime next week. Meteorologists are becoming concerned that by the time it hits the coast the storm could be, to put it plainly, very large. “It really could be an extremely significant, historic storm,” said Brian McNoldy, a senior research associate at the University of Miami. McNoldy said the conditions surrounding Hurricane Sandy are similar to those surrounding the infamous “perfect storm” of 1991. What analysts are really worried about is the midlatitude trough storm system moving east overland. If it gets close enough to the hurricane at the right time, it could suck Hurricane Sandy towards the shore. “Essentially, all of the major models are now showing some form of phasing event similar to the perfect storm occurring sometime next week,” said William A. Komaromi, a graduate student at the University of Miami. There is not yet cause for panic, as experts say it is entirely possible the hurricane will lose strength or even shift course within the next week. New York City is taking no chances though as they have already opened their Office of Emergency Management situation room and initiated its coastal storm plan.