Community Corner

Sandy Pushes Farther West, Could Bring 5 Inches of Rain and 50 mph Gusts

If Hurricane Sandy takes a more northern track, significant impacts are possible in Danvers and on the North Shore.

The latest track of Hurricane Sandy has the storm pushing farther west according to Friday's meteorologist reports. The National Hurricane Center has the center of the storm going either into Southern New Jersey or Delaware. 

This is a constantly changing storm and a more northern track, which is possible, would bring more significant impacts to Danvers and the North Shore.

According to WHDH Meteorologist Chris Lambert, the current likely scenario would bring wind and rain Monday afternoon through Tuesday with wind gusts of 40-60 miles per hour, mostly onshore, strongest at the coast with up to 5 inches of rain expected throughout the storm’s duration. Power outages are likely, along with beach erosion and coastal flooding during high tides. 

Find out what's happening in Danverswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Lambert says it’s still a “very complicated and anomalous pattern” and thus the timing is tricky. 

If Sandy maintains a warm core longer into the forecast period, it may hold on longer than some of the models project. If that happens, the turn northwest into the coast would happen farther north and put southern New England in a more serious situation than the current path would take it.  

Find out what's happening in Danverswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The National Hurricane Center has the hurricane currently with sustained winds of 80 mph, moving north at 13 mph. The storm is expected to decrease in speed today, followed by a turn toward the north tonight, and a turn toward the northeast on Saturday. The center of the storm will continue moving near the northwestern Bahamas this morning and move north of the Bahamas tonight. 

Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 35 miles from the center, with tropical storm force winds extending up to 275 miles. Sandy’s wind field is expected to grow in size during the next couple of days.


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