Hurricane Sandy — Monster Mega-storm?
According to Jeff Masters, PhD: "Wind shear is expected to remain a high 30 - 55 knots for the next four days, as Sandy interacts with a trough of low pressure to its west. The high shear should keep Sandy from intensifying the way most hurricanes do--by pulling heat energy out of the ocean. However, the trough approaching from the west will inject into Sandy what is called "baroclinic" energy--the energy one can derive from the atmosphere when warm and cold air masses lie in close proximity to each other. This transition will reduce the hurricane's peak winds, but strong winds will spread out over a wider area of ocean. This will increase the total amount of wind energy of the storm, keeping the storm surge threat high. This large wind field will likely drive a storm surge of 3 - 6 feet on Monday and Tuesday to the right of where the center makes landfall, on the mid-Atlantic or New York coasts. These storm surge heights will be among the highest ever recorded along the affected coasts, and will have the potential to cause hundreds of millions of dollars in damage."
The strongest hurricane on record for the Atlantic Basin is Hurricane Wilma (Oct. 15-26, 2005). With a central pressure of 882 mb (26.05"), Wilma produced sustained winds of 175 mph.
Meterological science is pretty good at forecasting the track of these storms after they form, but that's about all. From then on, it's either get out of the way, or hunker down!
-fl