Sandy/Nor'easter hybrid could strike Connecticut soon after FurFright
Sometimes furries plan more then just the weekend for their conventions, some even staying until late Monday or Tuesday morning. Those attending FurFright in Connecticut this weekend might be well-advised not to stick around for too long, as two major storm systems are looking to converge somewhere along the east coast. Many in the press are calling this event "Frankenstorm" (and I thought furries were bad with the pun neologisms).
Hurricane Sandy currently resides off the coast of Florida and is heading in a north direction. Meanwhile, in the Midwest, a storm front known as a nor'easter is heading east. These two types of storm when taken separately are not anything to take lightly; combined, they are sure to cause great devastation.
The current question is where. Some models have it landing as far south as Virginia, but other models have Sandy going north and in the direction of Long Island and Connecticut. It would be estimated to arrive in Connecticut late Monday to Tuesday. However, conditions could worsen even before then, as the storm is about 800 miles in diameter.
While Sandy would have lowered to a tropical storm by the time it gets that far north, it will still be a major storm, perhaps unprecedented for the area. There will be no way to get out of the state and even neighboring states safely once it arrives, so if you do plan to stay plan to be hunkered down for a lot longer then you originally anticipated. Expect these storm conditions to last more then a day or two once they arrive – with the cleanup in the aftermath, it could leave you stranded even longer.
Over the past 24 hours the odds of a direct hit on Connecticut have gone down, but it is essential that furries attending the convention keep an eye on the weather every once in a while for more information. Keep in mind, this storm's track doesn't have to hit directly to cause a bad situation, and that while the center of the storm will arrive late Monday the conditions could change well before that given the storm size.
Be safe this FurFright.
About the author
Sonious (Tantroo McNally) — read stories — contact (login required)a project coordinator and Kangaroo from CheektRoowaga, NY, interested in video games, current events, politics, writing and finance
Comments
So far, the Canadian Hurricane Center thinks it will actually follow the path of 1954's Hurricane Hazel... and make landfall in New Jersey, then make a bee-line for Southern Ontario. While Hazel made a second landfall in the Toronto area, Sandy appears on track to make a second landfall roughly half-way between Toronto and Kingston. Thankfully, New York City and area appear to dodge this bullet (like they did last year with Hurricane Irene, though fears remain of a repeat of the Long Island Express Hurricane of 1938 that caused massive devastation throughout Long Island and New England).
However, this all depends on whether or not the high pressure systems currently situated near Newfoundland and over western Labrador move off towards the North Atlantic and Ireland before Sandy arrives. If not, the high pressure systems will deflect it, as what happened during Perfect Storm of 1991, which may cause it to interact with, or even merge with, the approaching cold front from British Columbia. This is why forecasting remains a very tricky business. Meteorologists don't want to cry wolf, but they also don't want to leave people ill-prepared. While tracking positions of storms, and estimating their movements up to 3 days in advance, has become 3 times as accurate as in the 1960s... estimating strength/intensity of storms can still be problematic.
My source for this information is the Current Hurricane Track - Canadian Hurricane Center (a division of Environment Canada's Weather Office).
~ The Legendary RingtailedFox
Whether NYC has dodged a bullet yet or not really has yet to be seen I think. Hurricanes aren't like bullets, they're like tanks. Kind of slow moving, but you don't need to be in the center of its path for it to do massive damage, particularly if it does collide with this front. In fact if you look at Irene's path it did go over NYC, however the damage was more severe in the surrounding areas then in NYC itself including Vermont and Connecticut.
Actually the Sandy tracking west of NYC can be worse for the city then Irene's path because now it's in the eastern quadrants of the the hurricane as opposed to the west like with Irene. Though that could be moot given the possible effects the nor'easter would have on it.
I find it funny actually cause when you read the Irene article Bloomberg was saying "I was being cautious yay!" and now for Sandy he's not doing as much as he did for Irene. Probably because Irene was such a low impact for the city, not as much as the media hyped it anyway. That's where these prediction things can be dangerous. Boy who cried wolf factor and all that. (EDIT: Bloomberg as of Sunday morning has changed his tone and is starting to do things such as order evacs, etc)
Fortunately it does appear as if Connecticut is in significantly less danger then when this was posted. The reason I did post it was mostly because of the Irene impacts. Like last time the media still likes to talk about the NYC factor a lot. Population bias mostly.
It still might cause some delay for people leaving the convention however if flights are grounded and such. Those driving home that have to go southwest (given CT's relative to rest of US might be quite a few furs) may have to drive through it still.
Well NY didn't dodge the bullet, but Syracuse did again. It did with Irene too, we've now had a hurricane zoom past south of us and east of us, but never had any serious ill effects from the storm itself. Lucky.
I think you're performing a good service by posting this little Public Service Announcement. I agree that it's going to cause problems for people trying to travel to and from the northeast.
~ The Legendary RingtailedFox
I think the writer of this article should do a little more research. I live in the northeast. The Sandy/Nor'Easter Hybrid statement is correct because it will be coming off of the Atlantic into the north east. The Midwest storm heading east is not a Nor'Easter because it is not coming into the north east off of the Atlantic. Research before you write. Thank you.
Actually a nor'easter is a historical name that has nothing to do with where it comes from but instead simply signifies which way the wind blows during the storm. That other system I thought was the nor'easter, clearly they don't talk about this stuff in depth as they do hurricanes. There were three main systems they talked about, most of the focus of course is on the hurricane. That could be the third.
I'll take some time to review this
Okay re-reading though these things that was written incorrectly, a nor'easter typically charges up in the Gulf of Mexico then heads up through the coast. Sandy/nor'easter blending has already occurred at it's current form. I guess all it did was expand the size of the hurricane storm and has it's damage covering a larger area. The band on the other side is actually a different storm system entirely. Thanks for bringing it up.
Once again, I felt getting the word out was more important at that point, even if I didn't have everything in order. Cause sure I could take the entire weekend researching Nor'easters, but by that time the information might not prove as useful cause the storm's already on you. It was a balance thing, clearly I should have just said "storm" when referring to the other system.
I do feel bad for being a bit inaccurate about that, still not as bad as being called "Anthrocons" though by the professional journalists.
Bravo! It's refreshing to have someone admit a small mistake. You've restored a little faith. I'm not a journalist either and I also make mistakes. I just noticed the error because I have watched many a Nor'easter come rolling in from the east as I stood in my front yard; and I wasn't facing west.
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