An unusual nasty mix of a hurricane and a winter storm that forecasters are now calling "Frankenstorm" is likely to blast most of the East Coast next week, focusing the worst of its weather mayhem around New York City and New Jersey. 
 
 Waves, brought by Hurricane Sandy, crash on a house in the Caribbean Terrace neighborhood in eastern Kingston, Jamaica, Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012. Hurricane Sandy pounded Jamaica with heavy rain as it... (Associated Press) 
 
 This NOAA satellite image taken Wednesday, October 24, 2012 at 1:45 PM EDT shows Hurricane Sandy across the central Caribbean moving northward toward Jamaica and Cuba. Tropical Storm Tony is seen along... (Associated Press) 
 
 Government forecasters on Thursday upped the odds of a major weather mess, now saying there's a 90 percent chance that the East will get steady gale-force winds, heavy rain, flooding and maybe snow starting Sunday and stretching past Halloween on Wednesday. 
 
 Meteorologists say it is likely to cause $1 billion in damages. 
 
 The storm is a combination of Hurricane Sandy, now in the Caribbean, an early winter storm in the West, and a blast of arctic air from the North. They're predicted to collide and park over the country's most populous coastal corridor and reach as far inland as Ohio. 
 
 The hurricane part of the storm is likely to come ashore somewhere in New Jersey on Tuesday morning, said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecaster Jim Cisco. But this is a storm that will affect a far wider area, so people all along the East have to be wary, Cisco said. 
 
 Coastal areas from Florida to Maine will feel some effects, mostly from the hurricane part, he said, and the other parts of the storm will reach inland from North Carolina northward. 
 
 Once the hurricane part of the storm hits, "it will get broader. It won't be as intense, but its effects will be spread over a very large area," the National Hurricane Center's chief hurricane specialist, James Franklin, said Thursday. 
 
 One of the more messy aspects of the expected storm is that it just won't leave. The worst of it should peak early Tuesday, but it will stretch into midweek, forecasters say. Weather may start clearing in the mid-Atlantic the day after Halloween and Nov. 2 in the Northeast, Cisco said. 
 
 "It's almost a weeklong, five-day, six-day event," Cisco said Thursday from NOAA's northern storm forecast center in College Park, Md. "It's going to be a widespread serious storm." 
 
 With every hour, meteorologists are getting more confident that this storm is going to be bad and they're able to focus their forecasts more. 
 
 The New York area could see around 5 inches of rain during the storm, while there could be snow southwest of where it comes inland, Cisco said. That could mean snow in eastern Ohio, southwestern Pennsylvania, western Virginia, and the Shenandoah Mountains, he said. 
 
 Both private and federal meteorologists are calling this a storm that will likely go down in the history books. 
 
 "We don't have many modern precedents for what the models are suggesting," Cisco said. 
 
 It is likely to hit during a full moon when tides are near their highest, increasing coastal flooding potential, NOAA forecasts warn. And with some trees still leafy and the potential for snow, power outages could last to Election Day, some meteorologists fear. 
 
 Some have compared it to the so-called Perfect Storm that struck off the coast of New England in 1991, but Cisco said that one didn't hit as populated an area and is not comparable to what the East Coast may be facing. Nor is it like last year's Halloween storm, which was merely an early snowstorm in the Northeast. 
 
 "The Perfect Storm only did $200 million of damage and I'm thinking a billion," said Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the private service Weather Underground. "Yeah, it will be worse." 
 
 But this is several days in advance, when weather forecasts are usually far less accurate. The National Hurricane Center only predicts five days in advance, and each long-range forecast moves Sandy's track closer to the coast early next week. The latest has the storm just off central New Jersey's shore at 8 a.m. on Tuesday. 
 
 As forecasts became more focused Thursday, the chance of the storm bypassing much of the coast and coming ashore in Maine faded, Cisco said. 
 
 The hurricane center's Franklin called it "a big mess for an awful lot of people in the early part of next week." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writer Tony Winton contributed to this report from Miami. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Online: 
 
 NOAA's Hydrometeorological Prediction Center: http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/index.shtml 
 
 National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ 
 
 ___ 
 
 Seth Borenstein can be followed at http://twitter.com/borenbears ||||| Batten down the hatches, have you heard? There's a weather situation a'brewing, one with the best of all possible weather situation names. (Disclaimer: Should Snor'eastercane Sandy actually hurt people, which we really hope she doesn't, we will disavow any and everything in this post. Her name is Sandy! She's a snor'eastercane. What could she have to hate about?) But what's a snor'eastercane, you ask? Allow us to tell you everything we know about Snor'eastercane Sandy, including how you should feel about her possible presence in the East Coast just in time for Halloween. Remember how much fun Snowtober Saul was? (I'm still holding a grudge that we didn't go with Snoctober.) 
 
 Snor'eastercane Sandy, so dubbed by the Wall Street Journal ("Sandy," of course, comes from those folks who name storms) is an "unlikely meteorological scenario: a hurricane blending with an inland snowstorm just in time for Halloween." Hurricane Sandy, a hurricane not yet a snor'easter, is currently approaching the Bahamas. Don't worry, weather in New York City and the East Coast will be pretty great for the rest of the week. "For next week, however, it’s starting to seem like not a question of if but where this giant 'snor’eastercane' might strike," writes Eric Holthaus. "Regardless of the exact landfall location on the East Coast, impacts will be felt from Florida to Maine." He gives "two-out-of-three odds that Greater New York experiences significant impacts from this storm"—by that he means primarily "storm surge, wind and heavy rains" (and maybe snow). She could cost billions. Keep a watch on her here; via the AP's Seth Borenstein, scientists predict a 70 percent chance she'll hit the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic (otherwise, she might just snor'eastercane herself out at sea). There will also be a full moon, meaning TIDES and WEREWOLVES. Keep an eye out. 
 
 There are as many feelings about Sandy and her snor'easterncane status as one might have about various types of pie, mincemeat (gross) to pumpkin (yes, please) to pecan (good, but so bad for you) to meat (terrifying, maybe delicious?). In hopes of heightening your sense of preparedness for his weather situation, we have analyzed the various types of ways in which you may prepare, mentally, physically, emotionally, and otherwise for this upcoming gambit with Ole Man/Lady Weather. 
 
 Celebrate Such Words as Snor'eastercane. Hark, the three-word weather portmanteau! Portmanteauing in itself is wondrous, and this form is a thing of beauty, combining "snow" with "nor'easter" with "hurricane." When you take all of those things apart and look at them one by one, perhaps it's daunting—if you are the fearful type, even terrifying. But together there's a beautiful sibilance combined with a certain adorableness. The Tweeters of the world agree (sort of)! This is the best weathermanteau yet. Discuss amongst yourselves: With or without the apostrophe? Or, something else entirely? Are we not settled on Snor'eastercane? (We are!) New York's Dan Amira writes at Daily Intel, however, that there are other options to be considered: Snowicane and hurricarnage, for instance. Amira appears to be fighting to make "snowicane" happen. The New Haven Register prefers "Frankenstorm." Gawker likes "snowcone." (Do not mock the snor'eastercane.) We'd add norsnowcanepalypse, hurrisnoweaster, "big, big storm," or Sandy Snowballs ... except when you got it, you got it, "snor'eastercane" is pretty much perfection. Disagree? Email me. 
 
 "Stock Up on Things" and Prepare to "Be Cozy." If you adored Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Long Winter, or being at home and "blogging" while during the great snowpocalypse of 2010, or wearing warm cashmere socks and padding about contentedly in your apartment for days on end as the snowdrifts grow higher and higher and you occasionally look up from your knitting out the window at all that whiteness and feel a comfortable warm glow emanate from deep within you, somewhere near, maybe, your heart, this weather pattern is for you. Just, you know, buy the important things so you don't have to leave your house: Canned goods. Batteries. A radio. Wine, lots of wine (or whatever you drink). Bottled water, we suppose. And there was that thing we learned with our hurricane go-round the time before, with Irene: Fill your bathtub with water. Why? So you can drink it or cook with it or flush the toilet with it ... you know, just in case. You got this covered. You can live off the land for a full week, and by "land" we mean, "the stuff you bought at the bodega" and/or "order from Seamless." 
 
 Plan Things. Make a list, check it twice, check it a million times, because finally you have time to do that. You can catch up on all the seasons of Homeland. You can complete that crossword puzzle, so help you God. You can read books, all the books you haven't read, or clean your apartment, or call your mother. Make preserves! Reupholster a chair! Write your novel! Anything you have not done, you can hunker down and do—America's Next Top Model marathon?—because you won't be able to do anything else, and that brings a certain feeling of peace. 
 
 Fear. Perhaps you've just arrived, a tourist to the Big City, without a hat or gloves or even a pair of hardy snowpants (how could you forget your snowpants)? You have no idea what to do, and you are scared. Perhaps you are the anxious sort, easily swayed by changes to your atmosphere and environment. If so, get ready to FREAK OUT. As Amira explains, "Holy shit, everyone, a giant storm is going to destroy New York next week and everyone needs to start freaking out immediately!!!" If you want to be scared, you can start that now, and keep with it through next week. 
 
 Experience Joy at Doomsday Predictions! The Awl's Choire Sicha fits into this category of storm preparedness, reminding us of how happy Eric Holthaus appears to be that a storm might come and destroy us all. Holthaus fits in this category as well, of course. But this is a great thing! Sicha writes, "Hurricane Sandy terribly abused Jamaica last night, and is en route, possibly, maybe, up the Eastern seaboard, where she has a hot date with a nor'easter blowing across the U.S. This has weather folks very excited. But none are more excited than the Wall Street Journal's Eric Holthaus. We'd like you to get to know him. He's the most fun of all the weather dudes who are absolutely freaking out right now." EEEEEE. Wooooo. Yikes. "Fortunately, our weather boyfriend Eric Holthaus will be on hand to tweet us through it." Yes. 
 
 Daydream About Finding a Snor'eastercane Love. True story: There is such a thing as the hurricane boyfriend (there's also the hurricane enemy, and the tropical storm frenemy, and the rainy-day lover, but that's neither here nor there). Point being, the weather opportunist will use this storm as one would use any—to suit his or her needs. So, get out on those streets while there's still time, say your hellos and your "HELLOOOOs," the time is nigh and if we're gonna get hit by this thing, you should at least do it in the arms of someone mildly attractive. Or so we'd like to think. Pro tip: Ask a likely candidate for your affections about the canned goods or delicious-looking crusty baguette in their grocery basket, or how their water and whisky supply is holding up, as a convo-starter. Wander into a bookstore looking for Mary Higgins Clark mysteries to keep you entertained and linger a bit longer than you need to near the stranger perusing the Robert Ludlum paperbacks. While in the hardware store, let your hand touch the hand of that mysterious stranger as you reach for the same heavy-duty long-battery-life flashlight, and split the flashlight in half and share it. Then write your name and number in a book and hope he finds it and calls you before the snor'eastercane begins, because a snor'eastercane might make travel tough! Confidence booster: We all look the best in candlelight. Devastating truth: The person who keeps you warm in a snor'eastercane is the one you should hold onto, at least for the duration of the snor'eastercane when your heat still hasn't kicked on because it's only October. But seriously, is Eric Holthaus single? 
 
 Get Excited, Kinda. It's like Christmas, a little bit, isn't it? All the anticipation, what you might get on the big day, the snow coming early this year, or, if past history is any indication, right on time? So long as you don't think about climate change and whatnot, or what happens if ... [reverts to fear now]. Let's think positive. 
 
 Insets via NOAA; Flickr/Chiot's Run; Flickr/Yamanaka Tamaki. 
 
 Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at jdoll at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire. 
 
 Jen Doll ||||| Hurricane Sandy is seen churning northwards in this NOAA handout satellite image taken on October 25, 2012. The hurricane, strengthening rapidly after crossing the warm Caribbean Sea, slammed into southeastern Cuba early on Thursday with 105 mph winds that cut power and blew over trees across the city of Santiago de Cuba. 
 
 (Reuters) - As Hurricane Sandy makes its way toward the eastern seaboard of the United States, disaster experts and meteorologists warn that the mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states face dangerous winds and heavy rains that could trigger flooding in the coming days. 
 
 Some forecasters even say that Sandy has the potential to be a multibillion dollar disaster greater than last year's Hurricane Irene, though it may be too soon to tell if it has the power and trajectory to fulfill that worst-case scenario. 
 
 There are concerns that Sandy could join with another storm approaching from the west, a "nor'easter" that was going to strike somewhere around New York City and New England next week anyway, hurricane or not. 
 
 If the two systems combine, the effects will be much worse than if Sandy were to turn and go out to sea. 
 
 "When that occurs there can be a bit of a synergy, sort of a 1 plus 1 equals 3 effect," said Michael Kistler, a product manager at RMS, one of the main firms used by the insurance industry to model potential disaster exposure. 
 
 "There's a lot of folklore in popular media around a 'perfect storm' or that kind of event but essentially what you're doing is bringing two sources of energy together." 
 
 Kistler said it was too soon to know if that would happen, how strong Sandy would be if it did and where landfall might ultimately occur - potentially, anywhere from the mid-Atlantic states up to the Canadian Maritimes, based on current tracking. 
 
 But he added that the computer models were suggesting that no matter where it hit, Sandy could be packing sustained winds from about 70 miles per hour to about 100 miles per hour. 
 
 "Even at the weak side of this intensity range you're talking about things like tree fall, power disruption, disruption of infrastructure, and at the high end you're talking about more direct property damage," he said. 
 
 TOO SOON TO PANIC 
 
 The uncertainty going into the weekend will remind many in the region of Irene, which struck in August 2011 and caused unexpectedly strong flooding from New Jersey to Vermont. 
 
 At $4.3 billion in losses, Irene ranks as one of the ten costliest hurricanes ever, adjusted for inflation and excluding federally insured damage, according to the Insurance Information Institute, an industry group. 
 
 Sandy slammed into southeastern Cuba on Thursday after sweeping through Jamaica and Haiti, cutting power and blowing over trees across the city of Santiago de Cuba. 
 
 The National Hurricane Center in Miami said at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) that it had moved well off the coast of Cuba and was approaching the central Bahamas with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph. 
 
 It was still a Category 2 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity, but some weakening is expected over the next 48 hours as Sandy moves through the Bahamas island chain. 
 
 Sandy was forecast to drop below hurricane strength before making its expected U.S. landfall, but it's projected to be moving at a much slower speed, increasing the potential for damage because it will be longer lasting. 
 
 "If the storm were to make landfall in the U.S., it would be very large, perhaps even larger than Hurricane Irene," said Scott Stransky, a senior scientist at AIR Worldwide, another of the key modeling firms used by insurers. 
 
 "If it were to hit the exact same spot that Irene hit ... the damage could be worse than Irene." 
 
 For those who keep abreast of the weather via Twitter, warnings that were ominous on Wednesday started to turn outright panicky by Thursday morning. 
 
 "Window of escape closing ... only true question may be where, not if. All areas NC (North Carolina) to Mass (Massachusetts) likely to have hurricane conditions!" said Joe Bastardi, the former chief long-range forecaster at AccuWeather who now serves as chief forecaster at analytics firm Weatherbell. 
 
 Even the Occupy Wall Street movement was keeping a close eye on conditions, crucial since many of its members are still outdoors more than a year into its campaign to highlight what it describes as an unfair economic system. 
 
 "Now is the time to start becom(ing) concerned. If the Euro model verified, it's lights out NYC, literally," the Occuweather feed wrote, referring to one of the main computer models used to predict storm paths. 
 
 But the experts agree it is far too soon for that level of panic, especially given that some models still suggest Sandy could weaken substantially or even turn to sea. 
 
 AIR's Stransky said it could be another five to six days before Sandy actually hits land, depending on how far north it goes - potentially threatening Halloween festivities, just like last year's unexpected snow storm. 
 
 (Reporting By Ben Berkowitz; Editing by Paul Simao) ||||| Reuters Hurricane Sandy churns north towards the East Coast in this National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite image taken on Thursday. 
 
 Weather models are beginning to coalesce around an unlikely meteorological scenario: a hurricane blending with an inland snowstorm just in time for Halloween. 
 
 Before we get into that weather wonderland, Greater New York will enjoy pleasant afternoon temperatures in the low 70s for the rest of the week. For next week, however, it’s starting to seem like not a question of if but where this giant “snor’eastercane” might strike. 
 
 Regardless of the exact landfall location on the East Coast, impacts will be felt from Florida to Maine. Nearly every single major weather model now shows the eventual “phasing,” or capture, of Hurricane Sandy by an intense polar airmass. The two primary medium-range forecast centers for the National Weather Service agree. The European ECMWF, generally considered one of the best weather models in the world, has shown this scenario consistently for the last five days. 
 
 This consensus gives me enough confidence to increase to two-out-of-three odds that Greater New York experiences significant impacts from this storm. Here are a few reasons why I’m expecting nasty weather ahead in New York City… ||||| 
 
 Satellite view of the enormous cloud field associated with Hurricane Sandy on Thursday morning. (NASA) 
 
 Overnight, Hurricane Sandy experienced a stunning increase in size and intensity. Sandy is presently heading for the western and central Bahamas and will brush southeast Florida. Then comes the likely encounter with the Mid-Atlantic and/or Northeast U.S. Sunday-Wednesday. 
 
 
 
 5-day track forecast and active watches and warnings (National Hurricane Center) 
 
 While Sandy was forecast to stengthen to a hurricane prior to making landfall on Jamaica, it was not expected to rapidly intensify in the 125 miles of ocean between Jamaica and eastern Cuba. 
 
 Despite going over fairly high mountains in Jamaica and being so close to fairly high mountains in Cuba, Sandy’s central pressure plummeted 14 mb in 3 hours and winds increased by 30 mph in about 7 hours after it left the Jamaican coast. 
 
 Although the size and intensity of hurricanes aren’t well correlated, not only has Sandy intensified over the past day, it has also grown and is now an enormous circulation with a diameter of about 1500 miles. In other words, locations as far as 700-800 miles away from the center are measuring Sandy-related pressure drops, seeing Sandy-related clouds, and feeling Sandy-related winds. 
 
 The storm has already claimed two lives: one in Haiti and one in Jamaica, both related to flash flooding. 
 
 In Guantanamo, Cuba, a 76 mph wind gust was recorded earlier today. A long radar loop from Pilon, Cuba captured the Jamaican and Cuban landfalls, and a loop from Miami shows the storm presently (sites further north will be available as the storm comes within range). 
 
 Hurricane warnings are in effect for parts of the southeast Bahamas and central and western Bahamas. Tropical storm warnings cover much of the central and southeast Florida coast on the Atlantic side. Wind gusts to 40-45 mph, 1-3 inches of rain and 7-11 foot waves are possible in southeast Florida through late Friday. 
 
 The forecast for the near future calls for gradual weakening as the storm begins to get sheared by the winds from a deep mid-latitude trough (dip in the jet stream) to its west. This is the same weather system that will likely beginning interacting with it near the East Coast late in the weekend or early next week. 
 
 
 
 Rainfall forecast into Sunday from Sandy (NOAA) 
 
 The next phase of the forecast (Sunday-Monday) encompasses the timeframe where the deep mid-latitude trough that’s currently centered over the High Plains interacts with and energizes Sandy’s circulation. This is the critical period that will determine the impact on the entire Mid-Atlantic and Northeast U.S. 
 
 
 
 Model track forecasts for Sandy through next week. Deterministic runs are colored, while the GFS ensemble members are gray. Note that the ECMWF model is not included on this map, but is similar to GFDL. (SFWMD) 
 
 In the model tracks graphic shown to the right, keep in mind that these are only center lines of the storm and that the storm itself extends many hundreds of miles out from the center. 
 
 All models agree that Sandy (or some form of Sandy) will be a very intense and large cyclone with far-reaching impacts from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast. If they verify, Sandy could be a dangerous storm for a few, if not many of the metro areas from Norfolk to Portland, including Washington, D.C., New York City, and Boston. 
 
 A representative and ominous realization from one model (below) shows an intense landfall on the Delmarva peninsula on Monday evening, with strong wind, heavy rain (high elevation snow), and storm surge extending very far from the landfall location. 
 
 
 
 Forecast surface pressure and 850mb (5,000’) winds valid on Monday evening from last night’s ECMWF deterministic model run. (weatherbellmodels.com) 
 
 Although it’s not possible to pinpoint exactly where, high rainfall amounts (6-12”+) will be possible from North Carolina to Maine, including inland states such as West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire, etc. Heavy snow may fall at the high elevations. Strong winds could also extend far inland and cause damage and power outages. 
 
 Coastal impacts will be terrible, regardless of exactly what the track of the low is. Such a large and strong circulation will result in several days of beach erosion and coastal flooding. Add to that the effect of a full moon on Monday (and near-full on surrounding days) and you get even higher high tides to aggravate the storm surge threat. 
 
 We’ve received several questions and concerns regarding risk at individual locations. We will provide answers when the exact track of the storm comes into better focus. Coastal and inland flooding may well be the primary threat with damaging winds a secondary threat. 
 
 * Brian McNoldy is a senior researcher at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.
– Hurricane Sandy roared across the Caribbean today, dropping heavy rains, ripping the roofs off homes, and killing two people, the AP reports. The storm had a stunning growth spurt overnight, according to the Washington Post, becoming a category 2 hurricane, and a Cuban meteorologist says it "crossed the entire eastern region practically without losing any intensity or structure." And it's going to get worse: US meteorologists predict Sandy will combine with a winter storm and blast the Northeast, in what they're terming a "Frankenstorm." President Obama has been briefed on the storm, which meteorologists say could cause $1 billion in damages. Some forecasters tell Reuters that Sandy may outdo Hurricane Irene; one likens it to the proverbial "perfect storm," saying it's "sort of a 1 plus 1 equals 3 effect." New York and New Jersey are expected to be hit the hardest, but the impact could be felt from Florida to Maine, the Wall Street Journal reports. It calls the event a "snor'eastercane," a portmanteau that utterly delights the folks over at Atlantic Wire, who offer advice for surviving the long storm; government meteorologists predict the snow could stretch from Sunday to Wednesday.