What if Sandy hit the West Coast?

By Scott Sistek KOMONews.com with KVAL.com staff Published: Oct 29, 2012 at 11:52 AM PDT Last Updated: Oct 29, 2012 at 4:14 PM PDT
What if Sandy hit the West Coast?
This NOAA satellite image taken Monday, October 29, 2012 at 10:45 AM EDT shows Hurricane Sandy approaching the Mid Atlantic region with extensive cloud shied extending across much of the Northeast quarter of the U.S. with heavy rains from the Mid-Atlantic to the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes and snow falling in the southern portions of West Virginia. Cloudiness and rain showers can be found across the Upper and Mid Mississippi Valleys.(AP Photo/Weather Underground)

EUGENE, Ore. - How big is Superstorm Sandy?

According to the National Hurricane Center, hurricane force winds extend about 350 miles across the width of Sandy.

That is roughly the distance from Seattle, Wash., to Medford, Ore.

Tropical Storm force winds extend about 520 miles from the storm center (although probably about 850-950 miles across storm; the wind field doesn’t look symmetrical).

But if you figure 900-950 miles across or so, that is roughly the distance from Seattle to Los Angeles.

In other words, if the storm made landfall around Crescent City, Calif., tropical storm force winds would be felt from Seattle to Los Angeles.