Monster Storm: States of Emergency Declared across US East

Threat of ‘potentially crippling winter storm’ prompts states of emergency in and GA, NC, TN, VA, PA, MD, DC…

Deadly winter storm could impact 80+ million people – Blizzard Warnings issued

An area of low pressure centered over the southeastern U.S. will continue developing into a major winter storm which will impact a large portion of the East Coast from the southern Appalachians through the Mid-Atlantic states from Friday into the weekend. Snowfall totals may exceed 2 feet in portions of these areas, including the Baltimore and Washington D.C. metropolitan areas. -NWS-

Previous Bulletin:

A potentially crippling winter storm is anticipated for portions of the mid-Atlantic Friday into early Saturday. Snowfall may approach two feet for some locations, including the Baltimore and Washington, DC, metro areas. Farther north, there is uncertainty in snowfall for the New York City-to-Boston corridor. Farther south, significant icing is likely for portions of Kentucky and North Carolina. -NWS-

 

• NOR`EASTER TO IMPACT THE AREA WITH SNOW AND WIND LATE FRIDAY INTO SUNDAY MORNING

• IMPACTS: EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TRAVEL DUE TO HEAVY SNOWFALL AND STRONG WINDS WITH WHITEOUT CONDITIONS LIKELY. SECONDARY AND TERTIARY ROADS MAY BECOME IMPASSABLE. STRONG WINDS MAY DOWN POWER LINES AND TREE LIMBS.

Residents from North Carolina to New York have been told to stay indoors, and stock up on food and other necessities, as the monster storm arrives.

The National Weather Service put Washington DC and Baltimore under blizzard warnings from Friday afternoon through Sunday morning.

Blizzard warnings also issued for the following areas:

THE FIVE BOROUGHS OF NEW YORK CITY, COASTAL PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY, AND LONG ISLAND

At least four weather-related fatalities were reported, with two drivers killed in North Carolina, one in Tennessee and a pedestrian killed in Maryland, as of posting.

Sea Levels Rose 0.61m in US East Coast

Strange Phenomena Series

Don’t have to wait for all the ice to melt “freak” ACO events could inundate world’s coastal regions at a moment’s notice!

Sea Levels Elevated along Atlantic Coast: NOAA

ELEVATED EAST COAST SEA LEVEL ANOMALY: June – July 2009 . Source: NOAA Technical Report NOS CO-OPS 051

NOAA researchers discovered rises of 15 to 61 cm  (6 inches to 2 feet) in the sea levels along the entire Atlantic  Coast.  Having analyzed data from the relevant  tide stations and buoys along the Atlantic Coast, the scientists from the Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) discovered that “a weakening of the Florida Current Transport – an oceanic current that feeds into the Gulf Stream – in addition to steady and persistent Northeast winds, contributed to this anomaly.”

In addition to the current and steady winds, elevated water levels in the latter half of June coincided with a perigean-spring tide, an extreme predicted tide when the moon is closest to the Earth during a spring tide. This tidal event added to the observed sea level anomaly, produced minor coastal flooding, and caught the attention of many coastal communities because of the lack of coastal storms during this time that normally cause such anomalies.

“The ocean is dynamic and it’s not uncommon to have anomalies,” said Mike Szabados, CO-OPS director. “What made this event unique was its breadth, intensity, and duration.”

The significant point about the discovery was the geographic extent of this event, the researchers said, which encompassed the entire East Coast. Smaller regions and estuaries along the East Coast often  experience this kind of phenomena during the summer months.

The June–July 2009 sea level anomaly is unique because northeast winds along the coast were not at a multi-year high and the Florida Current Transport was not at its low–two factors that can cause elevated sea levels. However, the coupled effect of these two forces created sea levels that were at the highest levels all along the East Coast.

Rich Edwing, deputy director for the NOAA’s CO-OPS said “the Gulf Stream slowed down,” pushing water toward the coasts, which caused the  sea levels to rise.

“Why did the Gulf Stream slow down? Why did the fall wind pattern appear earlier?” Edwing said. “We don’t have those answers.”

NOAA says further analysis is necessary to fully understand the basic phenomena that caused the event, and will  continue investigating the forces responsible for the anomalies.

[ACO: Atmospheric, Climatic, Oceanic]

Related Links:

• Sea Surface Height Variations
• Vanishing Fred & Atlantic Hurricane Season 2009
• El Niño

Hurricane Ike, TS Hannah, TS Josephine – Update 9-5

Ike Update 9/12: Who Rubbed the Oil Lamp?

• Hurricane Ike Update 9/10

• Hurricane Ike Update 9/9

• Photos and Videos

• Hurricane Ike Update 9/8

• Hurricane Ike Update 9/7

Tropical Storm Hannah

FEWW Comment: Big Hannah’s torrential rains have already submerged parts of Haiti in more than  two meters of floodwater, leaving about 140 people dead. A nightmare scenario in the US Atlantic coast could unfold, if Hannah were to move in slow motion over the U.S. east coast, as already predicted by NHC, without necessarily making landfall, repeating a similar performance to her Haiti debut.

Updated Tropical Atlantic Imagery – Aviation color enhancement – GOES East – Date and time as shown on image. Credit NOAA/SSD/NESDIS

TS Hannah: Coastal Watches/Warnings and 3-Day Track Forecast Cone

This graphic shows an approximate representation of coastal areas under a hurricane warning (red), hurricane watch (pink), tropical storm warning (blue) and tropical storm watch (yellow). The orange circle indicates the current position of the center of the tropical cyclone. The black line and dots show the National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecast track of the center at the times indicated. The dot indicating the forecast center location will be black if the cyclone is forecast to be tropical and will be white with a black outline if the cyclone is forecast to be extratropical. If only an L is displayed, then the system is forecast to be a remnant low. The letter inside the dot indicates the NHC’s forecast intensity for that time. NOAA/NHC

TS Hannah

• Source: NHC
• Forecaster: Rhome
• Date and Time: Sept 5, 2008 / 06:00UTC
• Location: The center of tropical storm Hanna was located near latitude 27.2 North, longitude 77.2 West or about 90 km north of Great Abaco Island and about 790 km south of Wilmington, North Carolina.
• Direction: Hanna is moving toward the northwest. NHC expects a gradual turn to the north with an increase in forward speed later today. The center of Hanna will be near the southeast coast of the United States later Today. However, rains and winds associated with Hanna will reach the coast well in advance of the center.
• Speed: About 30 km/hr.
• Wind Speed: About 105 km/hr with higher gusts. It is still possible for Hanna to become a hurricane.
• Breadth: Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 510 km (v. large) mainly to the north and east of the center.
• Estimated minimum central pressure: 984mb (29.05 inches).
• Additional Information: Hanna could produce rainfall totals of 2 to 3 inches over the Northern Bahamas and the eastern portions of south and north Carolina, with maximum isolated amounts of 5 inches possible.  Rainfall totals of up to 3 inches are possible from the Georgia coast southward to the central Florida coast. Very heavy rainfall amounts are likely to spread rapidly northward into the mid Atlantic states and New England from Friday night into Saturday and may result in flooding.

Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Ike: Coastal Watches/Warnings and 5-Day Track Forecast Cone

NOAA/NHC

FEWW Comment: Ike, having strengthened to a very dangerous Category 4B on the FEWW Hurricane Scale just over 24 hours ago, is now slightly downgraded to a category 4A hurricane churning in a westerly direction. If Ike remains on its 5-day NHC-predicted path, and maintains its current strength as a major hurricane (Category 3A or above,) it would sweep over the northern edge of Haiti and the Island of Cuba causing additional destruction on a grand scale, compounding the misery caused by TS Fay, Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Hannah during the last 19 days.

• Source: NHC
• Forecaster: Brown
• Date and Time: Sept 5, 2008 at  03:00UTC
• Category and Wind Speed: About 215 km/hr, with higher gusts. Ike is an extremely dangerous category four hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale [Category 4A on FEWW Hurricane Scale.] Some weakening is forecast during the next 24 to 48 hours.
• Location: The center of hurricane Ike was located near latitude 23.6 North, longitude 59.5 West or about 760 km north-northeast of the Leeward Islands and about 1,215 km east-northeast of Grand Turk island.
• Direction: Ike is moving in a westerly direction. A turn toward the west-southwest is expected on Friday, and this motion is expected to continue through Saturday.  On this track the hurricane will continue to move over the open waters of the west-central Atlantic during the next 48 hours.
• Speed: About 22 km/hr.
• Breadth: Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 55 km from the center, and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 185 km.
• Estimated minimum central pressure: 945mb (27.91 inches).

TS Josephine

Coming soon …