Sandy turns toward shore; Storm surge building; Landfall late tonight

Sandy Headlines:

85 mph sustained winds with Category 1 Hurricane Sandy

946 millibars central pressure equivalent of a Category 3 storm

250 miles SE of Atlantic City, New Jersey

Moving NW at 20 mph now - Sandy has made the long anticipated turn to the NW

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Landfall late tonight along south Jersey Coast

Coastal & urban flooding already reported in New Jersey

51 mph wind gusts at JFK in New York this morning

8.83 feet water level already this morning at Battery Park, NYC (a full 3 feet higher than predicted level)

20 foot waves just offshore of Long Island this morning

8:53PM EDT High tide at NYC tonight

2 missing & 14 rescued as the HMS Bounty sinks this morning of NC Coast

Hurricane Sandy turns toward the Coast:

The long awaited turn toward the northwest has occurred.

Surge and waves form Sandy are already pounding the coast with more than 12 hours to go until landfall.

Pressure is still falling and winds increasing according to aircraft samples within the storm.

New York City is looking extremely vulnerable from surge tonight, as Sandy moves ashore and winds turn more southerly and push an 11 foot wall of water toward New York Harbor.

Shoreline defenses have already been breached from North Carolina to New York, and Sandy is just getting wound up.

Sandy will race toward shore today, and then slow down. That means a long, 3-4 day duration of rain, wind & surge.

Gusts to 60 mph are now raking the Jersey Coast at Barnegat Light USGS weather station NJ.

The "triple whammy" of storm surge, waves and a full moon high tide will cause the worst damage tonight.

We are just beginning to see Sandy's effects unfold today, and there is already serious coastal flodding and damage.

PH