If Hurricane Sandy makes its way up the Eastern coastline, Essex County could see a repeat of last year’s scary trick-or-treating conditions.
The National Weather Service says the state is increasingly likely to feel the impact of Sandy, which slammed eastern Cuba Thursday morning.
A Hazardous Weather Outlook is in effect for the tri-state area, where there is a potential for strong winds, heavy rain and coastal flooding over the weekend and early next week.
Downed trees, branches and powerlines, as well as widespread power outages brought on by an unseasonal snowstorm, all but squashed the Halloween of 2011. Many Jersey towns warned parents against letting children out to collect candy, including Bloomfield, which postponed its Halloween to Nov. 4 last year.
Chance of rain is in the forecast for the next few days, according to National Weather Service.
What's your family's contingency plan should Sandy rain out Halloween? Do you think the weather will have an impact again this year or do you predict Sandy will head out to sea? Tell us in the comments.
Pete Mock
10:22 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
The weather computer models have converged over the last 24 hours, with most indicating that Sandy will phase or combine with what we would usually call a Nor'Easter, pulling Sandy's heavy moisture and winds inland. There's still some wiggle room as to where it will hit the coast, but any chance that this will move out to sea is disappearing fast. NWS says a 70% chance it hit somewhere between DelMarVa and Maine. Currently the model consensus brings the hybrid storm ashore on the NJ coast, which puts us in the area with the highest winds and heaviest rains. Stay tuned.
This is no joke folks. There are forecasters who have talking about this kind of scenario for years and it has the potential to be the strongest storm most of us have ever seen.
hrhppg
12:09 pm on Friday, October 26, 2012
I'm stocking up on flashlight batteries, non perishables and filling my gas tank after work today. I'm hoping I'm over prepared but this storm has me nervous. It has already killed over 20 people. I hope Halloween isn't effected but I also hope people use better sense then to risk going out. Last year driving from Bloomfield to Montclair on Halloween was a danger zone, made twice as bad by parents and kids popping out between downed trees.