Politics & Government

It's Official. She's A Hurricane. National Weather Service Issues Hazardous Weather Outlook For Southern Connecticut

Sandy upgrade to hurricane just before noon on Wednesday. "There is a low potential for a major coastal storm with heavy rainfall ... early next week." Track, evolution of storm still uncertain.

 

Editor's Note: Just before noon on Wednesday, Oct. 24, Sandy was declared a hurricane by the National Weather Service.

As weather forecasters continue to track Tropical Storm Sandy, which is expected to become a hurricane Wednesday afternoon, the National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather outlook for southern Connecticut.

Find out what's happening in Madisonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Tropical Storm Sandy is slowly gathering strength south-southwest of Jamaica. The current forecast track has Sandy passing over Jamaica Wednesday afternoon as a hurricane, then near or over eastern Cuba Wednesday night. Winds have already begun to increase in and around the Florida Peninsula, especially over the coastal waters where Small Craft Advisories and Tropical Storm Watches are in effect," the NWS says.

The NWS says that there is a low potential for a major coastal storm with heavy rainfall, high winds, coastal flooding and beach erosion in southern Connecticut early next week.

Find out what's happening in Madisonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Keep monitoring forecasts

"This will ultimately depend on the eventual track and evolution of Tropical Cyclone Sandy as it interacts with a deepening upper level low pressure system approaching the east coast," the NWS says. "The storm may very well just move out to sea and have little if any impact on our weather. Again, forecast confidence is still low at this point since Sandy is still in the Caribbean Sea and any potential impacts are still several days away. Please refer to the National Hurricane Center for the latest forecasts on Sandy, and monitor the latest National Weather Service forecasts throughout the week."

Meterologist Gil Simmons from WTNH's WXEDGE, said in his morning update that "all eyes are on Sandy." He noted that early next week there will be an unusually high tide cycle because of the moon phase and that if the storm does affect the area, that strong winds could begin as early as Sunday night.

Kristina Pydynowski, senior meteorologist for Accuweather.com, says "Depending on the path of Sandy, now brewing in the Caribbean, people along the East Coast during the week of Halloween could be looking a destructive storm or breathing a sigh of relief. Final destination scenarios for Sandy range from bypassing the East Coast to creating a nightmare for tens of millions of people from Norfolk, Va., to Philadelphia, New York City and Boston."

"At least 36 to 48 hours away from 'really getting a good handle on Sandy'"

When will we know more?

Ryan Hanrahan, the meteorologist with the NBC station in Hartford says we are at least 36 to 48 hours away from "really getting a good handle on Sandy."

"Sandy is a bit of a pain ... She’s not behaving like most tropical storms or hurricanes do. The 'spaghetti plot' of this afternoon’s GFS ensembles really tells the story with 2 distinct possible paths for Sandy," Hanrahan says in his blog. Some forecasters "curve the storm east ... the other half of the models take Sandy to just east of Cape Hatteras and sling shot it west into New England. That would be one of the most unusual paths ever documented for a New England tropical storm or hurricane!"

If it hits, it could be a big one

Eric Holthaus from the Wall Street Journal says, if it hits, it could count among one of the bigger storms in history:

What could happen is quite complicated, and may have precedence only a handful of times across the more than 200 years of detailed historical local weather recordkeeping (Big storms in 1804, 1841, 1991, and 2007 come immediately to mind).

The forecast for Madison, of Wednesday morning, is as follows:

  • Wednesday: Scattered showers before 10am, then a chance of drizzle after 10am. Cloudy, with a high near 60. East wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
  • Wednesday night: A slight chance of drizzle before 3am. Cloudy, with a low around 51. East wind around 6 mph.
  • Thursday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 62. East wind around 7 mph.
  • Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 50. Southeast wind around 6 mph.
  • Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 69. Southeast wind 3 to 7 mph.
  • Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 50.
  • Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 68.
  • Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 52.
  • Sunday: A chance of rain. Cloudy, with a high near 62. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
  • Sunday Night: A chance of rain. Cloudy, with a low around 54. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
  • Monday: A chance of rain. Cloudy, with a high near 57. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
  • Monday Night: A chance of rain. Cloudy, with a low around 47. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
  • Tuesday: A chance of rain. Cloudy, with a high near 52. Chance of precipitation is 50%.


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