Math in the News

Tracking Hurricane Sandy

The East Cost of the U.S. is bracing for Hurricane Sandy. It will bring strong winds, heavy rains, and storm surge to coastal areas.

In this issue we look at various maps put together by the U.S. Weather Service that predict where the hurricane will make land fall. These predictive models provide helpful information for those planning for the hurricane’s arrival.

Math in the NewsSee the archive on Hurricane Sandy.

http://search.usa.gov/search?v%3Aproject=firstgov&query=hurricane+sandy&affiliate=nws.noaa.gov

Math in the NewsThe National Weather Service developed probability models that showed the most likely path of the hurricane. You can see a wide cone of possible paths.

Math in the NewsWhile the probability model doesn’t show the exact point where the hurricane makes landfall, the graph clearly shows that Sandy will go from Hurricane to Storm once it reaches land.

Math in the NewsThis probability model shows where the storm surge is most likely to occur. Storm surges cause coastal flooding.

Math in the News

A side-by-side view of the maps shows that where the hurricane makes landfall the storm surge will be greatest.

Math in the NewsCompare the predicted path to the actual path by visiting the Hurrican Sandy archive.http://search.usa.gov/search?v%3Aproject=firstgov&query=hurricane+sandy&affiliate=nws.noaa.gov