Monster Storm Sandy slow to give up the ghost

Hurricane hybrid Sandy continues to spiral over the Great Lakes this morning, but the punches are inflicting much less pain. Winds continue to gust above 30 mph in Michigan and down the length of Lake Michigan.

NOAA Water Vapor Satellite image 6 a.m. CDT

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Pressure pattern and wind field at 6 a.m. CDT. Source: NOAA SPC

Diffuse surface pressure center of the remains of Sandy was over Lake Ontario this morning.

A clean-up of epic proportions will continue for weeks along the east coast. As the temperatures trend down during the autumn season outdoor work will become more challenging. Photo journalists have done great job painting the picture of the devastation.

Here's a screen capture of the estimated rainfall during Monday and Monday night as the center of Sandy came on shore near Ocean City, NJ.

Source: Weather Underground

If you were looking for a small silver lining in this disaster, New York caught a small break when they were spared flooding rainfall as the storm surge swamped the city.

Here's a story I archived following the October snow storm in the northeast last year. You may wish to connect the dots to Sandy. Some stories during this weeks storm referenced the Storm of 1821. In some ways, mega storms are not anything new. One meteorologist commented, "New York was due."

We'll be tracking a weather maker coming out of the Pacific Northwest later today. Seattle is under the gun for potentially flooding rains in the next 35 hours.

Seattle radar at 650 a.m. CDT Source: NOAA/Weather Underground

Five day precipitation potential. Source: NOAA/NWS

Halloween trick or treat weather is pretty much made to order. Youngsters heading out just after dark will find temperatures quite tolerable.

For those tracking the monthly temperature trend in the Twin Cities, October 2012 will be the first month with the average temperature below normal since May 2011. We'll end up a little more than one degree below normal.

Craig Edwards