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Which historical weather event (locally) would you most liked to experienced


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For where I live curently, blizzard of 1899.  We still hold the state record for most snow from one event.  Plus it went below zero in it's wake. 

  I am not sure where i would have liked to have been for Sandy, but I suppose near some of my friends in coastal Monmouth Co.  It was not that bad here (we were lucky).

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I will take another Sandy. It was fun to track.

It was clear for many days it would be a huge impact. The Perfect Storm essentially doubled-940mb intensity on Sandy vs 970mb on the 1991 version. Full moon, trough from the Plains colliding into Sandy, with a blocking high preventing an escape out to sea. Recipe for catastrophe. Meteorologically it was incredible to see unfold, but no one wants to see devastation on that scale.
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For where I live curently, blizzard of 1899. We still hold the state record for most snow from one event. Plus it went below zero in it's wake.

I am not sure where i would have liked to have been for Sandy, but I suppose near some of my friends in coastal Monmouth Co. It was not that bad here (we were lucky).

The north side was much much worse wind and surge wise than the south side. I had very little rain in Long Beach- less than an inch. We had 85-90 mph gusts and a 10-12 ft storm tide (surge was 8 ft but the surge hit at high astronomical tide). Waves on top of that were up to 15 feet. For surge effects, from Long Beach through NY Harbor was about the worst. The NJ barrier islands are lower lying and less built up, which caused the mass devastation there. In Long Beach the structures largely stayed intact but became empty shells from being flooded out. We have large developments along the beach which likely protected structures past that from being washed away.
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It was clear for many days it would be a huge impact. The Perfect Storm essentially doubled-940mb intensity on Sandy vs 970mb on the 1991 version. Full moon, trough from the Plains colliding into Sandy, with a blocking high preventing an escape out to sea. Recipe for catastrophe. Meteorologically it was incredible to see unfold, but no one wants to see devastation on that scale.

The true dream benchmark for hurricane/anomalous lovers is probably Sandy in September or Long Island Express 1938 shifted west.

 

Yeah Sandy was wet here, we got about 6" of rain. Highest gust was 74mph at my PWS.

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There are some high points where you would have been fine. Down by Gilgo and you would be toast.

I'll go with the great 1600s colonial hurricane which was far stronger then sandy. The only true major to hit our area. 38 doesn't count west of Nassau as the west side was relativly week

Near OBI I think I would have been ok.

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The true dream benchmark for hurricane/anomalous lovers is probably Sandy in September or Long Island Express 1938 shifted west.

 

Yeah Sandy was wet here, we got about 6" of rain. Highest gust was 74mph at my PWS.

A storm like Sandy on that track (a big part of why it was so devastating for NYC-the track piled water from the SE into the bays/harbors/rivers, also its tremendous size ensured a lot of water to be funneled in) happens maybe once per half millennium. So yeah, it's quite rare. 

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That was an amazing storm-it's what first got me into weather. It was just before my 10th birthday. I vaguely remember March 1993 but the 1996 blizzard is the first I remember in good detail.

Lost power during the December 92'and March 93'(Superstorm) noreaster's for a day each. The winds in 92' ripped siding off my house.

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Well, March 1993 caused 270 deaths, January 1996 was over 150, and even the big February 2010 storm was near 50 (first two per NCDC, last one wiki). Hurricane damage is typically more severe in a small area near the point of landfall (sans big surge events), but snowstorms are much more widespread. I grant that many of the fatalities would be considered "indirect", but that's true of TCs as well.

 

I'm not trying to argue that one form of disaster is inherently worse than the other, but some people seem to believe snowstorms are guilt-free fluff-bombs that melt out the next week with no ill effects. It's just a little hypocritical to thrust one's nose into the air and say, "I would never root for a hurricane like you masochistic, psychotic imbeciles. Now bring on some roof collapses!"

 

Had not remembered that the death toll from 1993 was that high.  I do remember that a number of the fatalities were from tornados in FL - same storm but pre-blizzard.  Even in 1888, a significant portion of the deaths came from the sinking of a ship off the east coast - again, same system but it was probably wind and rain where the sinking occurred.

 

Another reason folks were critiquing the hurricane-choosers is infrastructure damage.  Even the March 1993 damage can't approach that caused by Sandy (or 1938, or Andrew, etc.)  Recovery from a major 'cane takes years, even decades, while things get back to near normal relatively quickly from blizzards.  1888 might be the only real comparison to hurricane effects, as it destroyed major communications facilities throughout the Northeast and changed the way electricity and telephone networks were constructed in urban areas.  As bad as 1993 and 1996 were, they caused no paradigm shifts like that.  Among winter events, only a major ice storm can compare for infrastructure effects, and even that causes far less damage to buildings and roads.

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