A Perfect Superstorm?

[satori001]

From a Post Chronicle story - 17 hours ago:

Could Wilma And Alpha Merge Into A Spectacular Superstorm?

by Mitch Marconi

Oct 23, 2005

1. On Saturday the atmosphere holds the potential for a rare development of a powerful storm off the Atlantic Seaboard of the United States early next week.

2. While forecasters say this would be partially true without the existence of Hurricane Wilma and the newly-dubbed Tropical Storm Alpha, which represent a great source of tropical warmth and moisture.

3. Apparently, two key players could come together. First, a sharply dipping jet stream dives southward from central Canada and unlocking a cold pool to churn up a low pressuresystem south of the Great Lakes Sunday and Monday.

4. The other player, none other than Hurricane Wilma, will pull away from Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula just in time for a crossing of the Florida Peninsula on Monday.

5. Monday night and Tuesday is when things could get hairy from a meteorological perspective. The strong northeast-trending jet stream might scoop up Wilma, with a possible contribution from Alpha, as the low shifts from the Appalachians to the coast.

6. Should Wilma follow the western edge of its forecast window and begin to draw in the cool low from the west, an explosive deepening could occur, likely culminating in a deep and fully merged storm roaring south of Nova Scotia by Wednesday. While forecasters say that this is not the most likely scenario, it is still one that is in the realm of possibility.

7. This is just what might happen Monday night and Tuesday if the Worst Case Scenario were to play out.

8. Heavy, driving rains and gale winds would reportedly batter the eastern seaboard from North Carolina to southern New England, according to published reports. As the rains spread north and the storm found the cold pole from the west, rain would then turn to heavy wet snow over the inland Northeast.

I added the numbers.

Edited October 24, 2005 by satori001

[Ron G.]

WHATEVER happens. Satori, you cab rest assured it'll be Bush's fault.

We're considering changing the name of our earthquake threat, the New Madrid Fault, to Bush's Fault, since it obviously is.

[satori001]

Ron, let's be honest. Bush isn't doing anything about this potential storm, is he? He must know about it. And yet, there are no FEMA boats in the Atlantic, ready and waiting to help out.

Kidding aside, this could be some storm.

Edited October 24, 2005 by satori001

[satori001]

Here is a page which allows you to animate the progress of the jet stream. If you set it for 7 days, at 6 hour intervals, you will get a sense of how these air currents move.

Begin to notice around the 22nd how the Canadian current develops its thrust into the Atlantic, poised to meet Wilma and Alpha by Tuesday.

The reporter says the "superstorm" is not the most likely scenario. Just one possibility.

[krys]

The weather I saw tonight suggested that a nor'easter with rain instead of snow could be expected and that some areas well inland could get a taste of what winter is all about.

Guessing about the weather is almost like "guessing" about football. The next morning, everybody knows what happened and why!

[satori001]

We're not guessin'. We're speculatin'

[krys]

Point Taken