Why is Sandy the Frankenstorm so Dangerous?

Here are a few reasons why weather forecasters are so worried about Hurricane Sandy, nicknamed Frankenstorm. Sandy is a very large hurricane, one of the largest ever to strike the United States mainland. Instead of having winds and rain a few hundred miles across, Sandy is much bigger. That means many more millions of people are going to experience high winds, heavy rains and powerful storm surges along the coast.Sandy is a very slow moving storm. It will stay around for days rather than hours.Sandy is not weakening as it reaches the coast. It’s expected to join forces with cold air masses and become a hybrid storm like a Frankenstein Monster Storm or "Frankenstorm."Sandy arrives on the coast during a full moon, the highest tides of the month. Sandy’s winds combine with the high tides could push tidal waters 11 feet higher than normal.Sandy will bring in cold air and snow as well as wind and rain. Cold air will join with the warm air of a tropical storm and bring snow as well as wind and rain. So the problems of cold weather storms and warm weather storms are wrapped into one.Sandy is likely to affect New York City, the nation’s largest city. That’s bad news for a city whose many subway tunnels are lower than the surrounding ocean waters. All in all, Sandy the Frankenstorm is no joke. It’s a dangerous storm that may turn out to be the worst in the history of the Northeast United States.