The Watchers - 1/27/13, By Chillymanjaro
Ten days after a severe storm underwent a process of rapid intensification over the North Pacific Ocean, pummeling the western Aleutian Islands of Alaska with hurricane force winds and high waves, another serious storm system is taking place right now in the open North Atlantic waters.
MODIS Terra and Aqua satellite captured the exploding storm system on January 26, 2013 (Credit: LANCE/MODIS)
For the past few days, the meteorologists at the Ocean Prediction Center (OPC) have been highlighting the likelihood of an “exploding” storm event that is happening now, south of Iceland. The storm has intensified enough to become stronger than Hurricane Sandy was, as measured by the minimum central air pressure. The lowest pressure recorded during Sandy’s development was 940 mb and the current storm intensified to 933 mb, based on information from the OPC on January 26, 2013. Fortunately, its worst impacts will stay offshore of Iceland, Ireland and Scotland. The strongest extratropical storm on record in the North Atlantic occurred in 1993, when a minimum central pressure of 913 mb was recorded near Scotland’s Shetland Islands, according to Weather Underground.
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