Eastern U.S., parts of Canada brace for Hurricane Sandy

Forecasters are suggesting Hurricane Sandy will transition into a large post-tropical cyclone, likely making landfall somewhere near New Jersey Monday and bringing heavy rain to the eastern United States and Canada.

“The official NHC track forecast brings the center of the storm over the coast of central New Jersey, near Atlantic City, late Monday night or early Tuesday morning,” Tim Doggett, principal scientist at AIR Worldwide noted in a statement. “However, there is still considerable uncertainty as to when the westward turn will happen, which will have a significant impact on where along the coast Sandy will make landfall.”

Several eastern U.S. states have declared states of emergency, and have ordered evacuations for some residents. “Some 60,000 National Guard troops have been mobilized in preparation to assist local authorities, and hundreds of storm shelters have been set up across the region,” according to AIR.

Rain from the storm likely won’t begin to affect Canadian territory, including southern Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime provinces, until late Monday or early Tuesday, the Canadian Hurricane Centre noted Sunday. Rainfall amounts will vary, with some localized areas seeing up to 75 mm, the centre said.

“The precipitation could mix with or change to snow over parts of south-central Ontario and extreme western Quebec as temperatures approach the freezing mark north and west of the storm,” the centre forecasted.

Southern Ontario will also see high winds of up to 100 km per hour, while western Quebec could see up to 90 km per hour.

“These gusts could cause broken tree limbs or in some cases uprooted trees which may result in downed utility lines,” the CHC said. “Residual falling leaves can also obstruct storm water drainage systems along roadways particularly in urban areas.  This combined with heavy rainfall could increase the risk of flooding in some areas.”

There is also a risk of very large waves on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia that could possibly cause locally elevated water levels, the centre said.

Image: Hurricane Sandy as seen from space Oct. 28 at 9:02 a.m. ET. (Credit: NASA GOES Project)