EXTREME WEATHER ALERT: Hurricane Sandy bears down on U.S. east coast; All the latest on Hurricane Sandy's impacts on the U.S. and Canada as it makes its approach

Water from the Hudson River crashes along the shore in Battery Park in New York, October 29, 2012

October 29, 2012 — As rain from the leading edges began to fall over the Northeast on Sunday, hundreds of thousands of people from Maryland to Connecticut were ordered to leave low-lying coastal areas, including 375,000 in lower Manhattan and other parts of New York City, 50,000 in Delaware and 30,000 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Hurricane Sandy strengthened in the early morning hours Monday, with winds reaching 140 km/h. President Barack Obama declared emergencies in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania,authorizing federal relief work to begin well ahead of time.

The President promised the government would "respond big and respond fast'' after the storm hits.

The New York City region could face the worst of Hurricane Sandy.

Authorities warned that New York could get hit with a surge of seawater that could swamp parts of lower Manhattan, flood subway tunnels and cripple the network of electrical and communications lines that are vital to the nation's financial centre.

Major U.S. financial markets, including the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq and CME Group in Chicago, planned a rare shutdown Monday. The United Nations, buses, and subway services also shut down.

Airlines cancelled nearly 7500 flights and Amtrak began suspending train service across the Northeast.

Sandy, a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 136 km/h (as of Monday afternoon) has been linked to 65 deaths in the Caribbean before it began travelling northward, parallel to the Eastern Seaboard.

Track Sandy as it envelops on TV with stormhunter, Mark Robinson, on-location in New York. Latest updates are also available on the website's interactive Satellite and Radar!

As the U.S. braces for what some forecasters are calling an 'historic' storm, some people have been left wondering: Is the hype deserved?

Sandy will be an historic storm – as of Sunday evening, this is a virtual guarantee as all forecast models are in strong agreement, predicting the worst case scenario of a landfall just south of New York City late Monday.

This storm deserves the hype, but it is very important to separate the US impacts from the Canadian impacts.

Canadian Impacts

Southern Ontario is going to take the hardest hit from Sandy. There will be wind and rain in Quebec and the Maritimes, and even snow in Northeast Ontario, but the worst conditions are likely in Southern Ontario. However, this is unlikely to be an epic storm for us – rather, Sandy’s impact will be on par with a strong fall storm, the type we see every few years. Strong winds from Sandy will lead to some scattered power outages. It will be very windy later Monday into Tuesday morning - guaranteed - the only question is how strong the gusts will be.

Peak gusts for most places should remain below 100 km/h – still strong enough for some trees to come down and some power outages, but not heavy damage.

The exception to this will be along the southern shores of the Great Lakes. In fact, Sarnia may end up seeing some of the strongest winds of anyone Monday night – not what you’d think considering Lake Huron will be farther from the centre of the storm than Lake Ontario.

This storm will behave more like a large fall storm than a hurricane once it has moved inland, and the northerly wind blowing down the length of Lake Huron coupled with colder air on the backside of the storm means that areas around Sarnia may see wind gusts in excess of 100 km/h.

This could be enough to cause significant shoreline erosion and potentially infrastructure damage.

Motorists in Southern Ontario should keep in mind that a strong grip on the wheel will be needed on the Burlington Skyway and Garden City Skyway, especially Monday night.

Recent rainfall has saturated the ground in Southern Ontario, and with heavier rain developing later Monday as Sandy’s moisture moves in, some flooding is possible. However, this is not expected to be a Hurricane Hazel type historic rainfall.

Thousands of sandbags have been laid out on the Jersey Shore ahead of Sandy's arrival

US Impacts

Some power outages are likely on our side of the border, but we need to clarify that the greatest impact will be in the US Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, where it is likely that millions of people will lose power.

As bad as this sounds, the most concerning aspect of this storm isn't the wind or the rain, but the storm surge potential for Long Island Sound and areas around New York.

Sandy is taking the perfect track, and its slightly faster timing for landfall means that the highest storm surge is likely to correspond with high tide Monday evening.

Predicting the specifics of a storm surge is a tricky business because it involves not just the dynamics of the atmosphere, but also those of the ocean. However, it seems clear that all-time high water marks will be threatened by Sandy’s surge, which could lead to massive infrastructure damage in low-lying areas of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.

Is the Hype Deserved?

Yes – while Sandy will not produce the horrific scenes of a Katrina or Andrew, it will take a serious human and economic toll on the U.S. because of its size and location of impact.

While this will not be an epic storm for Canada, it is still a strong storm that will make for an uneasy sleep for many on Monday night.

For live updates and analysis tune to The Weather Network on TV and track Sandy’s progress here on the web.

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Short Term ForecastUpdated:Monday, October 29, 2012, 13:23EDT

	MondayAfternoonAfternoon: 12:00 PM - 5:59 PM	MondayEveningEvening: 6:00 PM - 11:59 PM	MondayOvernightOvernight: 12:00 AM - 5:59 AM	TuesdayMorningMorning: 6:00 AM - 11:59 AM	TuesdayAfternoonAfternoon: 12:00 PM - 5:59 PM

	Light rain	Rain	Light rain	Light rain	Light rain
Temp.	6°C	5°C	7°C	9°C	13°C
Feels Like	2	-2	1	4	10
Wind	N 35km/h	N 55km/h	N 55km/h	N 40km/h	E 30km/h
Wind gusts	km/h	km/h	km/h	km/h	km/h
Relative Humidity	97 %	100 %	87 %	100 %	100 %
P.O.P.	90 %	90 %	90 %	90 %	90 %
Dew Point The dewpoint is a measure of atmospheric moisture. It is the temperature at which air must be cooled in order to reach saturation (assuming that air pressure and moisture content are constant). As the surface of the earth cools at night, warm moist air near the ground is chilled and water vapour in the air condenses into droplets on the grass and other objects. Dew is particularly heavy on clear nights, when the earth cools rapidly. When a blanket of cloud insulates the earth, the cooling rate is slower. The greater the difference between the temperature and the dew point, the drier the air. More weather definitions »	°C	°C	°C	°C	°C
Pressure	kPa	kPa	kPa	kPa	kPa
Rain	1-3 mm	5-10 mm	2-4 mm	2-4 mm	1-3 mm
Snow	-	-	-	-	-