With government forecasters predicting that much of the East Coast could get hit by gale-force winds, flooding, heavy rain and maybe even snow early next week by an unusual hybrid of a hurricane and winter storm, locally, it is still too early to tell if the region will be impacted.
The storm, which forecasters have dubbed “Frankenstorm,” is a mix of Hurricane Sandy, an early winter storm in the West and a blast of arctic air from the North.
Forecasters on Thursday said there's a 90 percent chance that the East will get steady winds, flooding, heavy rain and possibly snow starting Sunday and stretching past Wednesday.
But it is too premature to tell yet if Western New York will get hit hard, said Shawn Smith, meteorologist with the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Buffalo.
“Right now, it’s much too early,” he said. “We’re still kind of watching...As it gets closer, we’ll get a better idea.”
If Hurricane Sandy stays over the Atlantic Ocean, he said, the region could see little impact, with only some cloudy weather and cooler temperatures. But if the storm turns back toward the coast, Western New York could see heavy rain and some flooding. He does not anticipate any winter precipitation.
Smith suggested that the public stay alert and check weather forecasts as the storm approaches.
Forecaster Jim Cisco of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the storm is so massive that the effects will be felt along the entire coast from Florida to Maine and inland to Ohio.
"We don't have many modern precedents for what the models are suggesting,” he said.
Some meteorologists fear that with some trees still leafy and the potential for snow, power outages could last to Election Day. They said the storm has all the earmarks of a billion-dollar storm.
Some have compared it to the so-called perfect storm that struck off the coast of New England in 1991, but Cisco said that one didn't hit as populated an area and is not comparable to what the East Coast may be facing.
—Includes reporting by Erinn Cain
With government forecasters predicting that much of the East Coast could get hit by gale-force winds, flooding, heavy rain and maybe even snow early next week by an unusual hybrid of a hurricane and winter storm, locally, it is still too early to tell if the region will be impacted.
The storm, which forecasters have dubbed “Frankenstorm,” is a mix of Hurricane Sandy, an early winter storm in the West and a blast of arctic air from the North.
Forecasters on Thursday said there's a 90 percent chance that the East will get steady winds, flooding, heavy rain and possibly snow starting Sunday and stretching past Wednesday.
But it is too premature to tell yet if Western New York will get hit hard, said Shawn Smith, meteorologist with the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Buffalo.
“Right now, it’s much too early,” he said. “We’re still kind of watching...As it gets closer, we’ll get a better idea.”
If Hurricane Sandy stays over the Atlantic Ocean, he said, the region could see little impact, with only some cloudy weather and cooler temperatures. But if the storm turns back toward the coast, Western New York could see heavy rain and some flooding. He does not anticipate any winter precipitation.
Smith suggested that the public stay alert and check weather forecasts as the storm approaches.
Forecaster Jim Cisco of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the storm is so massive that the effects will be felt along the entire coast from Florida to Maine and inland to Ohio.
"We don't have many modern precedents for what the models are suggesting,” he said.
Some meteorologists fear that with some trees still leafy and the potential for snow, power outages could last to Election Day. They said the storm has all the earmarks of a billion-dollar storm.
Some have compared it to the so-called perfect storm that struck off the coast of New England in 1991, but Cisco said that one didn't hit as populated an area and is not comparable to what the East Coast may be facing.
—Includes reporting by Erinn Cain
