Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/91307
Sarasota News Leader November 2, 2012 Central pressure is 27.76 inches (a quar- ter-inch drop in three hours!!!), and sustained winds are up to 90 mph, with gusts to 110 mph. Forward speed is 28 mph, so on the "wrong side," winds are 118 mph. The storm is huge. The National Hurricane Center says, "SUS- TAINED WINDS TO TROPICAL STORM FORCE ARE OCCURRING FROM SOUTH- ERN NEW ENGLAND THROUGH LONG IS- LAND AND LONG ISLAND SOUND...AND SOUTHWARD ALONG THE COASTS OF NEW JERSEY...DELAWARE...AND EASTERN Page 33 VIRGINIA...AND INCLUDING ALL OF THE CHESAPEAKE AND DELAWARE BAYS." Sandy is going "extra-tropical" at this hour, merging with a major polar low-pressure sys- tem to mix-master a colossal dump of rain and liberated heat into the now-dominant polar air mass. Seas are running 45 feet at the center of circulation. Meanwhile, the jet stream is plunging from Minnesota down to the Florida Panhandle, bringing us the season's first nippy temps. It could get into the 40s inland tonight. This is Sandy at its most menacing, with circulation restored. It is strengthening and it remains 18 hours from landfall. Image courtesy of NOAA