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Heaven and Earth may be align to turn Hurricane Sandy into a real monster , just in time for Halloween .
forecaster expectSandy to make landfallalong the mid - Atlantic coast of the United States on Monday or Tuesday ( Oct. 29 or 30 ) . It may immix with a disjoined tempest hitting the region at about that time , create an immensely muscular " Frankenstorm " whose effects could be magnified by the full moon .
NOAA’s GOES East satellite snapped this image of Hurricane Sandy at 10:45 a.m. EDT (1445 UTC) on Oct. 24, 2012, as it was headed for landfall on Jamaica.
When themoon full to its full phaseMonday afternoon , eminent tides along the Eastern Seaboard will rise about 20 per centum higher than normal , even without the help of Sandy ’s storm soar upwards , say Joe Rao , a meteorologist for News 12 in Westchester , N.Y. ( violent storm surges occur when a hurricane ’s idle words press the urine aerofoil above normal levels . )
" Add a big tempest , and the full lunation will only serve to exacerbate the situation by help to accentuate the higher - than - normal water level , perhaps leading to moderate or major coastal implosion therapy and beach erosion , " Rao tell OurAmazingPlanet via e-mail .
A gravitative lag usually causes the highest tides to come a twenty-four hours or two after every full moon , he impart .
NOAA’s GOES East satellite snapped this image of Hurricane Sandy at 10:45 a.m. EDT (1445 UTC) on Oct. 24, 2012, as it was headed for landfall on Jamaica.
" So the forged coastal flooding make for by Sandy might actually add up on Tuesday , all depending on exactly where and when the violent storm cause landfall , " say Rao , who is also the Night Sky Columnist for OurAmazingPlanet sister situation SPACE.com . [ How to Prepare for Hurricane Sandy ]
Atfull lunar month , the Earth , sunshine and moon are arrange in a line , with Earth in the center . Tidal chain of mountains are especially high at this sentence because the gravitational tugs of the sun and moon on our satellite reinforce each other . The same burden is felt at new moon , when the three bodies all line up , with the lunar month between Earth and the sunlight .
Indeed , tides at the new and full Moon are call " natural spring tides . " The terminal figure has nothing to do with the time of year ; it comes from the German verb " springen , " which mean " to spring up , " Rao said .
Full and new moons have magnified storm shock in the past , such as during the annihilating " Ash Wednesday " tempest that rocked the U.S. East Coast in March 1962 . The moon was full when this storm hit , but it was also at perigee — the breaker point in its orbit when it do closest to Earth — making things even worse .
A close lunar approach is one thing folks in Sandy ’s path do n’t have to worry about — diminished comfort , perhaps , but it ’s something .
" If there is any salvage grace in this upcoming spot regarding Sandy , it is that Monday ’s full lunar month comes less than three days before it get in at apogee ( farthest from the Earth ) , " Rao said .
