While the center of the storm won’t hit our area until Monday night, the effects of this storm will already be felt in our area on Sunday.
Models are still tracking Hurricane Sandy in our direction as Philadelphia, Delaware and New Jersey have all declared states of emergencies in preparation for the storm.
The center of the storm is currently 300 miles off the coast of North Carolina and 550 miles away from South Jersey.
While the center of the storm won’t hit our area until Monday night, the effects of this storm will already be felt in our area on Sunday.
Sandy is currently a category 1 Hurricane with winds at 75 miles per hour. The storm spans several hundred miles wide and is expected to grow in size. Rain bands from Sandy are now moving into Maryland and we could see some of this in Delaware soon. Rain is also moving into Sussex County and winds should increase in the area tomorrow. Winds should gust near 40 miles per hour during tomorrow’s Eagles game.
It will curve out to the Atlantic but by Monday morning around 8 a.m. it will begin to curve back towards our area. From Monday night until Tuesday the storm is expected to make landfall anywhere from the southern tip of Maryland to New York as either a weak Category 1 Hurricane or a strong tropical storm.
By Tuesday, around 8 a.m., the storm will begin to move inland with heavy rain and strong wind. At that point the storm will start to slow down. A slow moving system means more rain over a longer period of time. The system will pull in moisture from the Atlantic and we can therefore expect very heavy rain. Winds are expected to be around 65 miles per hour on Tuesday. The storm will then take a turn up to the north and east Wednesday and Thursday, wrapping around cold air on the backside of the storm. We could be seeing snow west of the region.
