October 28, 2012: 11 AM Forecast Update

1.  Track.  Here is the 11 AM track forecast update from the Hurricane center:

National Hurricane Center

This has essentially remained unchanged.

2.  Intensity.  The storm continues to maintain 75 mph in the core, and the radius of strong winds has expanded since earlier morning.   The Hurricane center is calling for a bit of additional intensification later today and tonite, before weakening at landfall.

I just received an email from my colleague Dr. Frank Marks, of the NOAA Huricane Research Division, who is presently flying a recon mission inside the eye of Sandy, and he reports that the dry air has not yet penetrated the inner core (dry air would help weaken the system).

National Weather Service

3.  Impacts.  All impacts and timing still on track, based on my earlier morning post.  See the map of current NWS warnings above.  This may be the only time in your life you will see a hurricane warning on one side of the mountains, and a winter storm watch on the other side, for the same storm.

4.  Next Blog Update:  Early this evening.