Thursday, November 1, 2012

Rogue Winds?

So here's my Sandy story. Where I live things weren't too bad. Lots of downed trees, no one has power, but there's been no flooding or major damage. The highest reported gusts anywhere near me were around 50mph. But at 6:45pm that night, a freight train crashed into my house, which was rocked to its foundations. I've been in earthquakes less violent. A very heavy metal ladder, tightly folded, was instantly blown twenty feet across the porch. I've never experienced anything like it - and didn't again for the whole night, which was spent huddled in a windowless stairwell.

The gust had to be over 90mph, though no such winds were reported anywhere near here. We know about rogue waves at sea, but I've never heard of a rogue wind gust - at least not one twice the velocity of anything else for miles around. But there you are.

A bit later, Governor Cuomo closed the Triboro bridge, reporting that there'd been a 100 mph gust nearby. This left radio meterologists scratching their heads, since no such gusts were recorded anywhere near there. Same effect?

No comments:

Blog Archive