According to The Weather Channel's Brian Norcross this storm is "unprecedented and bizzare" and has also been compared to the hurricane of 1938 which killed hundreds in New England. People are being warned to prepare for the worst and evacuation routes from the coast are already in place. If you have travel plans for the east coast next week I would suggest changing them since this is a very slow moving storm that has already killed dozens in the Caribbean.
One thing you will not hear mentioned much in the breathless reporting on the storm are the words "climate change". While no single weather event can be directly attributed to climate change, the odds become greater for storms like this as the world warms. Climate scientist James Hansen likens it to "loading the dice" where the likelihood of more powerful storms becomes greater. Another analogy would be to a baseball player taking steroids to increase their home run total. While no single home run could be attributed to steroids, the statistical increase in home runs would lead to the suspicion that something odd is going on. Extreme precipitation events have increased significantly since 1948, and this is in line with what climate scientists have predicted for a warmer world. Storms like this one may become commonplace during the latter half of the 21st century, and people will need to become more aware of potential weather hazards no matter where they live.
I think I had better tune up my chainsaw and generator.
UPDATE: For the third time this year alone floods have crippled a city in the Lake Superior basin
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