UPDATE: 114 mph wind gusts reported. See below.
March came in like a lion, and it looks like the lion isn’t leaving, but you can’t blame the “polar vortex” this time.
As a massive winter storm at sea known as a Nor’easter prepares to skirts the Northeast coast of the USA, bringing with it high seas and bitterly cold weather in its wake, Dr. Ryan Maue writes:
Massive Nor’easter will develop a warm-core thru a seclusion process.
Compare previous image w/Hurricane Sandy– same 850-mb Wind speed & MSLP. Nor’easter wind field much stronger/larger.
[It is] maybe 4 times more powerful than Sandy based on integrated KE of wind field.
The image of the storm is quite stunning for it’s sheer size. Images and animation follow.
Compare that to these satellite photos of Hurricane Sandy:
Watch this animation of the storm as it is forecast to develop, click it to get it to animate full size.
The biggest difference here is the track, Sandy made landfall in NYC, this nor’easter is not expected to there, but will skirt the coast and will make landfall later in Newfoundland, But, it will have a significant effect on the northeast USA due to its ability to transport air mass.
He adds:
Not the
#polarvortex this time. Textbook tropopause fold & baroclinic wrapup
What that will do is act like a pump, and pull bitterly cold air in behind it (note the stream in the rendering above). The result will be a late March like no other, possibly the coldest late March on record for the area:
The National Weather Service in Boston is preparing for blizzard like conditions in some areas, plus hurricane force winds at sea.
They are even asking readers to “make the call” on snow amounts.
UPDATE: 4:10PM PDT 3/26/14 While Jai Mitchell tries (unsuccessfully) to argue in comments that there’s no comparison to Hurricane Sandy, we get reports like this one from Environment Canada with 114 mph wind gusts and sustained winds of 86 mph:
Jimbo says:
March 25, 2014 at 1:39 pm
Somebody at the Guardian clearly screwed up. That article wasn’t supposed to be released until NEXT Tuesday.
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That’s because the problem is those who claim to be able to do something about it.
“March came in like a lion”
More like a polar bear this year. And that polar bear isn’t in a hurry to go anywhere.
I live in SE Wisconsin. I woke up this morning to a temp of 23 degrees F and a fresh layer of snow.
Sandy was not a hurricane. Maximum sustained wind speeds were never over 25 meters per second. Several offshore buoys showed about the same data points. Recorded speeds at land stations were about 20 meters per second at most.
Wind damage was consistent with tropical storm. Here is a chart of the wind speeds at one of the offshore buoys where the highest winds speeds were recorded. Buoys outside NY harbor and Long Island show about the same speeds. The hurricane threshold is sustained speeds of 33 meters per second.
http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/met.html?id=8536110&timezone=GMT&units=metric&bdate=20121028&edate=20121031
And to think it was old Ben Franklin who first deduced the true nature of Nor’easters, which have been happening forever. We could sure use a few more of his type (lightning is electricity, bifocals, better wood burning stoves, a Constitution that the present administration apparently disdains…)
rather than decline hiding Manns, conspiracy ideationist Lews, and heat hiding Trenberths.
Ever wonder what the Poor Farmer’s Almanac would have thought about CAGW? Poor Richard knew there were plenty of weather calamities, but that adaptation (a stitch in time saves nine), prudence (a penny saved is a penny earned), and a bit of perseverance (spring reliably follows winter) served well. They still do.
I’ve got a pen. And I’ve got a phone. And I’m gonna’ use them. “Hello weather service…”
I’d say now is a good time to take that Tesla out for a spin on the East Coast. Let’s see what it’s made outta’.
Can you hear the calls for world communism howling in the distance?
re: jai mitchell says March 25, 2014 at 1:37 pm
…. For comparison, look at how lake Michigan waves react to this storm (it will be minimal) compared to sandy (30 foot waves on the Chicago waterfront).
30 foot waves on the waterfront? Chicago would be flooded … YOU MUST MEAN 30 foot breakers (a ‘wave’ impacting a breakwater or shallow ‘draft’ water yields brief heights of perhaps near 30 feet).
Do you know the difference?
Google images: 30 foot waves on the Chicago waterfront
.
Hurricane Sandy’s Winds Hit Lake Michigan
.
Looks like Jolly Ol’ Al Gore is up to his tricks again.
If ya can’t win one way, well, you just gotta do it another way.
I’m old enough to remember this, back in the good ol’ days of CAGC.
jai mitchell says:
Not so fast
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/archives/2012/h2012_Sandy.html
We had some watches up around western Lake Ontario. It was a breeze.
April fools day blizzard in boston 1997…26″of snow
patiently sitting here in Nova Scotia waiting for 50+ cm of snow – snow blower at the ready
jai mitchell says:
March 25, 2014 at 1:37 pm
“This effectively doubles the area of the windfield and quadruples the energy associated with the storm, so, no sandy was still more energetic. ”
What? That cannot be. There’s more CO2 now.
If the anti-Keystone Clowns are still tied to the WH fence, then PLEASE, PLEASE unleash the storm’s fury on DC. Preferably 3 ft of snow, -25F temps and gale force winds.
I blame el nino.
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They’d just spin it faster than “snow devil”.
“if you ever want to be warm again we must stop Global Warming NOW!”.
supposed to be 50mph winds and about 8-10 IN of snow tomorrow here in Maine.
its just another spring storm to me.
Looks like it’s tracking East of the earlier European model forecast. We’ll just get a few windblown inches here in Boston. Antigonish, NS, sorry, you’re toast! Please try to dig out before the Highland Games, so the caber doesn’t get stuck in the snow.
Quick, get Al Gore out of Nova Scotia or the whole thing’s gonna blow. Oh, he’s on vacation in Florida? Quick, get Al Gore away from those orange trees…
Here is a reference to a Nor’easter that if it hit today would have done more damage than Sandy because of costal build up over the years. As it was it still caused very wide spread damage and loss of life. I have never seen it mentioned alongside Sandy although it hit some of the same area like Long Beach Island N.J. Selective memory?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ash_Wednesday_Storm_of_1962
Thanks Dr. Maue. Good forecast of bad news.
Jim, at 0:43 in your reference the surfer is standing and from my point of view as an old surfer, those are 4 to 5 foot wind-driven waves breaking on a shallow sandy beach.
I always like to check the weather warnings for the appropriately named Wreckhouse area of Newfoundland:
160 km/h = 100 mph
180 km/h = 110 mph
Well blow me down!!
jai said “For comparison, look at how lake Michigan waves react to this storm”
That will be pretty tough to look at since most of Lake Michigan is frozen.