It's hard to believe after shedding the coats and even basking in the sun Thursday, we're in for a harsh reality check on Friday.
UAlbany Meteorology Professor Mike Landin says, “And you're getting into category 1 hurricane wind that can cause quite a bit of damage.”
When Professor Landin talks about winds that strong, he means business. Remember the January 21st storm? Widespread power outages occurred across the state. Landin says the dynamics coming together could make this storm even worse.
“We have 80 degree high temps along the Gulf Coast and we've got temperatures below zero in North Dakota and Minnesota and into Montana and that temperature contrast is probably the greatest I've seen for this entire winter season.”
Gusts in the hill towns could reach 80 mph. At Union College, Mechanical Engineering Professor Brad Bruno can simulate gusts that hard using their own wind tunnel.
Bruno says, “The drag forces on an object are going to go up as the wind velocity squared. So as the wind velocity gets up to high numbers, the forces get up to very high numbers too.”
Bruno says that an 80 mph gust hitting a 6 foot tall person would produce 100 pounds of force against them – strong enough to lift them off the ground. Imagine what that could do to trees and branches.
Landin says, “We could see some pretty amazing gusts. I think this storm has the potential to produce some wind gusts a little bit higher than we've seen in the past several years. This could be something like a once in a decade type of wind gust situation.”
Landin's advice – tie down any loose objects in your yard. And your best bet – try not to go outdoors unless you really have to through Friday evening and have those flashlights and fresh batteries handy, we could be in for widespread power outages.