Major Storm Likely to Hit New Jersey Early Next Week

Here’s what’s cool about having a kid majoring in meteorology at college: advance notice, several days before the local weather reporters ever even mention it as a possibility, that a major storm is heading for our area. Here’s what’s not cool about having a kid studying meteorology at college: advance notice, several days before the local weather reporters ever mention it, that a major storm may hit our area.

There’s something awkward about getting all stirred with excitement about something you’d rather not have happen, simply because you want to support your offspring’s brash enthusiasm about a not-so-great thing that may, probably, possibly, perhaps happen.

In our house, this translated to checking battery stocks and moving patio furniture into the garage on a sunny Saturday while our neighbors were blithely raking leaves and putting out Halloween decorations. But it also meant I got to make that dreaded trip to the grocery store for extra milk and water bottles before the endless queues begin snaking from cashiers down the aisles to the deli counter.

By now though, the Storm Prediction Center, the National Hurricane Center, the National Weather Service, and local weather experts are all finally talking about a probable huge storm early next week. Unlike the October 2011 storm, this one probably won’t dump heavy snow on our still-leafed-out trees and change the arboreal landscape. And no one has yet compared it to the blunt force of Hurricane Irene hitting us in August 2011.

Instead, Hurricane Sandy, as of this morning a Category II hurricane, will likely merge with another system and then dump heavy rain and bring winds possibly as high as 75 mph to New Jersey anywhere from Sunday night to Wednesday morning. The question now seems to be not whether the storm will hit land, but where and when.

According to the National Weather Service:

“There is increasing confidence that the tri-state area will feel the impacts of a major coastal storm late this weekend into early next week. This includes the potential for heavy rainfall, high winds, coastal flooding and beach erosion. The specific impacts will ultimately depend on the eventual track and evolution of tropical cyclone Sandy as it interacts with a deepening upper level low pressure system approach the East Coast”

Or, as my son the meteorology geek/student says: It’s coming and it will be like a nor’easter on steriods. But he also adds, probably. Or, not.