Weather Worse Than The Historic 'Perfect Storm' Threatens U.S.

Could a Hurricane Sandy, winter storm hybrid worse than the "Perfect Storm" of 1991 slam the East Coast just in time to ruin both Halloween and Election Day?

Some meteorologists have grown increasingly concerned, as Hurricane Sandy made landfall Thursday in Cuba and already turned deadly in the Caribbean.

Politico asked on Wednesday if perhaps Hurricane Sandy would be "the next climate wake-up call" as climate change will cause storms to become increasingly intense. As for this storm, the potential timing with Election Day led ClimateSilence.org's Brad Johnson to remark, “Sandy is yet another reminder that the candidates should stop competing over who can poison the weather faster with increased oil, gas and coal production."

Much of the U.S. East Coast has a good chance of getting blasted by gale-force winds, flooding, heavy rain and maybe even snow early next week by an unusual hybrid of hurricane and winter storm, federal and private forecasters say.

Though still projecting several days ahead of Halloween week, the computer models are spooking meteorologists. Government scientists said Wednesday the storm has a 70 percent chance of smacking the Northeast and mid-Atlantic.

Hurricane Sandy in the Caribbean, an early winter storm in the West, and a blast of arctic air from the North are predicted to collide, sloshing and parking over the country's most populous coastal corridor starting Sunday. The worst of it should peak early Tuesday, but it will stretch into midweek, forecasters say.

-  AP