Hurricane Sandy to Merge With Winter Storm In East Coast Pummeling

Could stretch from Norfolk, VA to Boston

As hurricane Sandy leaves the northern Bahamas, computer models indicate the dangerous storm will hit the East Coast anywhere between Chesapeake Bay and Long Island, New York, starting early Tuesday morning.

But pinpointing the spot where Sandy comes ashore is less important than usual, because by Monday night gale-force winds, accompanied by hurricane-force gusts, could stretch for hundreds of miles in either direction of the storm's center, weather forecasters warn.