Miami, FL (WIBX) - Hurricane Sandy is churning waters and claiming lives in the Caribbean. But what is concerning extreme weather forecasters is the potential for "Frankenstorm," or what could happen in the storm's wake.

The hurricane is expected to be downgraded to Tropical Storm Sandy.  Its remnants will meet and then interact with airflow from the north and west, creating what some are calling an almost perfect storm.  The trouble is, no one really knows what to expect from the resulting wind mass.

Nothing but rain could fall or Central New York could face the most severe weather it has experienced in one hundred years.

Steve DiRienzo, emergency Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the National Weather Service says residents should not be alarmed but should simply be prepared as they would for any potential weather emergency.

In a discussion group posting on a National Weather Service website the storm is categorized as follows:

"A retrograding positive anomaly moving from Southern Greenland into Northern Quebec favors a quasi-stationary deep cyclone near the northeast, in this case Hurricane Sandy and its post-tropical remains. Otherwise...ridging is general expected out west...though flow across the Pacific is expected to send ample energy/heavy precipitation across the northwest. Guidance is in excellent agreement on the general flow pattern, though issues remain with Sandy's future course and strength."

When asked to translate that DiRienzo says they can never truly know where a storm is going to hit but the consensus is that Sandy will gradually lose its "tropical" characteristics since it will not be fed by storms and warm air, but will retain its intensity, fueled instead by a mass of cold air coming from the west and Canada.  Sandy will no longer be an official "hurricane" or "tropical storm" but will transform into another system entirely.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has directed New York's Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services to monitor Sandy.  He says that we learned from Hurricane Irene that improvements still need to be made in the state's emergency preparedness system.

MetroSource News provided this from Governor Cuomo: 

Hurricane Sandy is said to be responsible so far for about two dozen deaths in the Caribbean.

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