At around 8 p.m. EST last night, Sandy has picked up speed, 28 mph, and touched down 32 miles down south of Atlantic City, N.J. a little sooner than what was forecasted. It carried maximum sustained winds of around 80 mph is currently advancing north-northwest at an estimated 23 mph.

The National Hurricane Center formally declared the weather system as a “post-tropical” cyclone stating that this transformation is part of its conversion into a diffused storm that has grown in size as its overall strength weakened. According to experts, this transition is going to be hard to explain because of its hybrid features uncommon from what is typically seen.

The storm may have lost the hurricane portion of its name since it lacks both a warm core center and the upward movement of air within the eye (convection) that typical hurricanes possess, but nonetheless, Sandy is already being considered to be one of the largest-sized weather systems with winds that have extended a thousand miles across the open ocean.

High wind warnings stretch out from central Florida to the Canadian border and from Maine to Chicago, but these winds are going to be of a lesser intensity compared to those surrounding the its eye. According to Dennis Feltgen, a spokesman for the NHC, it still is as dangerous as a hurricane and its apparent "downgrade" is definitely not an indication of its potential to bring chaos and turmoil.