That Mega Storm Off The East Coast Is Behaving As Expected, Which Is Incredible

The forecasts for that humongous storm off the coast of New England are turning out to be totally accurate.  

The enormous mega-bomb of a storm
swirls off the New England coast as
dawn breaks Wednesday morning.  

That's actually a little surprising, because this storm is almost unprecedented in its strength.  If there's not much experience with a certain kind of weather pattern, the chances can increase the forecast is wrong.

If meteorologists have not really dealt with a particular type of weather event in the past, they haven't had the chance to learn from experience.

Then again, computer models are getting a lot better and meteorologists have gotten more sophisticated in using them.

So some mega storms have turned out to be very accurately forecasted, which of course can save lives and property.

For instance, forecasts for Hurricane Sandy in October, 2012 were almost dead on.  True, the destruction in New Jersey and elsewhere was extreme, and some people didn't heed evacuation notices, and people died. In that storm, 117 people in the United States died.

Another visible satellite view of the storm
The center of the storm looks like it
has an "eye" like a hurricane. Though the storm is as
strong as a hurricane, it's a completely different type of
storm from a hurricane.  

However, imagine how many people would have died had they not been warned Sandy was coming.

The great news is I'm not expecting nearly the destruction of Hurricane Sandy with the current huge storm, mostly because it's not hitting as many populated areas.

There is going to be coastal flooding and battering waves on Cape Cod and the islands, plus heavy snow.  

As of 8 a.m. winds were gusting to 69 mph in Nantucket, amid heavy snow and near zero visibility, for instance.  Winds there could gust to hurricane force before this is over.

There's also going to be a lot of damage up toward Nova Scotia, which is bracing for hurricane force winds and tidal surges.

Heavy snow is going to be confined to the New England Coast, and Atlantic Canada.

Luckily, the storm won't stick around long and will be gone by Thursday. Then, those of us in the Northeast will face more typical sized, and some rather unpredictable storminess over the weekend.

More on that later.....