THE computer prediction (PARTICULARLY THE 00 UTC ECMWF) SHOW PRESSURE estimates WELL BEYOND WHAT HAS EVER BEEN OBSERVED NEAR THE NEW JERSEY/NEW YORK COAST (EVEN EXCEEDING THE 1938 LONG ISLAND EXPRESS HURRICANE) EARLY IN THE MEDIUM RANGE PERIOD.
Does that help?
RE "only a Cat I": I asked the same question of my son, who's maintained a friendship with a NOAA scientist from a stint interning at NIST/Boulder. He responded "yes, Owen seems excited, so I'm excited."
But doesn't "Pressure well beyond what has ever been observed" get every pilot's heart beating pretty fast?