One Year Ago This Afternoon

Sandy's approach to the Delaware Valley was largely "known" by October 25th and 26th, with most guidance suggesting impact across our region. What had not been completely settled was where the storm's center was going to come ashore -- modeling was still varying in specific landfall points...but that was immaterial given the size of the storm. By Saturday and Sunday, most modeling was suggesting a South Jersey landfall point for the storm as it continued north and then northwest towards us.<br /><br />Sunday afternoon (which was the 28th), the local National Weather Service office released this powerful statement that underscored the impact of what was coming in.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqd20NaJldflA1gM_gTAeFJpb5wgrX7LukiueHBRcoSlGgMwCOIhhWIh1KgalPTMcwgBDPzVSDmW_-ObPDF8qNdJP23zYQAOz2l6fzlbiseqAgAlJk_Gc1gMSYXm3o6qOFaXZdqwPsSaIg/s1600/102713-SANDY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqd20NaJldflA1gM_gTAeFJpb5wgrX7LukiueHBRcoSlGgMwCOIhhWIh1KgalPTMcwgBDPzVSDmW_-ObPDF8qNdJP23zYQAOz2l6fzlbiseqAgAlJk_Gc1gMSYXm3o6qOFaXZdqwPsSaIg/s400/102713-SANDY.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Sandy was still about 24 hours away from its maximum fury being felt across the area. However, a year ago today the first bands of the storm were pushing in from the east in advance of the storm, despite the center of <a href="http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2012/al18/al182012.public.026.shtml?" target="_blank">Sandy still being east of the Carolina coastline</a>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYVILAlRoPF3juQYxG4SLhACDrCwWg7UGAhvWKLoq1z_lN35TtIKNCZgcD5tM7FPgpGIaBj2E-8mePkMVYq_jgcqJdF1VuQRJLRpzwIpRf-aPbN10uRG0oyXrPQpvuVw-QyCqcw-kV0tBj/s1600/102713-SANDY3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYVILAlRoPF3juQYxG4SLhACDrCwWg7UGAhvWKLoq1z_lN35TtIKNCZgcD5tM7FPgpGIaBj2E-8mePkMVYq_jgcqJdF1VuQRJLRpzwIpRf-aPbN10uRG0oyXrPQpvuVw-QyCqcw-kV0tBj/s400/102713-SANDY3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Here's another image of Sandy from Sunday morning as it spun northeast through the Atlantic. The size of the storm is remarkable already at this point -- covering real estate from Maine to just north of the Bahamas, from the Carolinas east to Bermuda.  The storm would only grow in size over the next 24 hours before it made landfall...but Sunday (one year ago) marked that final day of preparation for many along the East Coast as Sandy approached.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLwLaPDkKUVMIJCfEpkHREnlHOXDqD7BY6qfVSlv6-lxizW0JOTGxNK8MAXgP9Z8BcYrRWh4Ki53YDpIS1gMr6yohg984oK-IjHPDDA7JE-reklYcAvs6mYapdkVY0PvCOt-nPPE_1mbi5/s1600/102713-SANDY2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLwLaPDkKUVMIJCfEpkHREnlHOXDqD7BY6qfVSlv6-lxizW0JOTGxNK8MAXgP9Z8BcYrRWh4Ki53YDpIS1gMr6yohg984oK-IjHPDDA7JE-reklYcAvs6mYapdkVY0PvCOt-nPPE_1mbi5/s400/102713-SANDY2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />

NWS past weather Sandy One Year Ago This Afternoon

Sandy's approach to the Delaware Valley was largely "known" by October 25th and 26th, with most guidance suggesting impact acr...

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New head of National Weather Service named

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div class="asset-metabar-wrap" style="clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin: 20px 0px 23px 70px;"><div class="asset-metabar" itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(230, 230, 230); display: table-cell; margin: 20px 0px 0px; width: 888px;"><span class="asset-metabar-author asset-metabar-item" itemprop="name" style="float: left; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 14px; margin: 6px 0px 5px; padding: 2px 10px; position: relative;">Doyle Rice, USA TODAY</span><span class="asset-metabar-time asset-metabar-item " style="border-left-color: rgb(225, 225, 225); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; color: #999999; float: left; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; line-height: 14px; margin: 6px 0px 5px; padding: 2px 10px; position: relative;">3:05p.m. EST February 7, 2013</span></div></div><div class="asset-double-wide double-wide" itemprop="articleBody" role="main" style="color: #222222; float: left; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px; position: relative; width: 600px;"><div class="article-metadata-wrap" style="float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 30px 0px 60px; position: relative;"><aside class="single-photo expandable-collapsed" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 20px; position: relative; width: 180px; z-index: 100;"><div class="image-wrap" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; box-shadow: rgb(200, 200, 200) 1px 1px 5px; cursor: pointer; padding: 3px; position: relative;"><img alt="uccellini" class="expand-img-vertical" itemprop="url" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2013/02/07/louis2-3_4_r536_c534.jpg?1b79b3da202957124496e3768cfb7b67cdb10c81" style="border: 0px; max-width: 100%; min-height: 232px; vertical-align: middle;" /><span class="toggle" style="background-image: url(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/static/images/sprites/asset-sprite.png); background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; bottom: 0px; height: 21px; position: absolute; right: 0px; width: 21px; z-index: 200;"></span></div><div class="image-credit-wrap" style="color: #646464; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 16px; margin-top: 6px; padding: 0px 5px 0px 0px;"><span class="credit" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: 400;">(Photo: National Weather Service)</span></div></aside><div class="article-metadata" style="position: relative;"><aside class="comp story-highlights " style="clear: left; float: left; margin: 0px 0px 20px; min-height: 60px; width: 180px;"><h3 class="hlts" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #999999; font-family: 'Futura Today Bold', arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px auto; text-transform: uppercase;">STORY HIGHLIGHTS</h3><ul class="hlt" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; left: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><li class="hlt-item" style="background-image: url(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/static/images/components/story_highlights_bullets.png); background-position: 0px 17px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-color: rgb(212, 212, 212); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #646464; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; padding: 12px 0px 12px 15px;">Uccellini has been with the weather service since 1989</li><li class="hlt-item" style="background-image: url(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/static/images/components/story_highlights_bullets.png); background-position: 0px 17px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; color: #646464; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; padding: 12px 0px 12px 15px;">He has co-written two books on northeastern snowstorms</li></ul></aside></div></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Louis Uccellini will be the new director of the National Weather Service, effective Sunday.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Uccellini, 63, has been with the weather service since 1989, most recently as the director of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction in College Park, Md. He will be the 16th director of the weather service, which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">He was the president of the American Meteorological Society and the author of more than 60 journal articles and chapters in books. He literally wrote the book about blizzards as the co-author of the two-volume book <i>Northeast Snowstorms.</i></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Uccellini replaces acting director Laura Furgione, who served since May. She replaced Jack Hayes, who was director from 2007 until last May. Hayes retired after an internal investigation found that agency staff improperly moved money among different accounts without congressional authorization.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Furgione will return to her position as weather service deputy director.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">Uccellini becomes director at a challenging time for the agency, dealing with budget issues that could hamper efforts to improve such critical needs as weather satellites and weather prediction models.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">In a telephone interview Wednesday, Uccellini stressed the importance of maintaining transparency in budget issues.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">He agreed with concerns within the meteorological community about the state of the top U.S. weather prediction model (the GFS), saying he will be "moving aggressively" toward its improvement.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"It's an honor to lead such a prestigious agency with the unbeatable mission of protecting lives and livelihoods," Uccellini said. "The past year had its success stories with superior outlooks, forecasts and warnings, including those for Sandy, but difficulties remain.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 60px;">"Our eyes remain locked on the future to ensure a National Weather Service that is second to none and supports a weather-ready nation."</div></div></div>

National Weather Service NWS New head of National Weather Service named

Doyle Rice, USA TODAY 3:05p.m. EST February 7, 2013 (Photo: National Weather Service) STORY HIGHLIGHTS Uccellini has been with the weather s...

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