Hurricane Sandy (2012)
Category 3 Atlantic hurricane in 2012 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hurricane Sandy was an Atlantic tropical cyclone which affected parts of the Caribbean, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States in late October 2012, and became the largest Atlantic hurricane in diameter, with winds spanning 1,100 miles (1,800 km).[1][2] It made landfall on the East Coast of the United States and Eastern Canada (Nova Scotia). Sandy was the eighteenth tropical cyclone, eighteenth named storm, and tenth hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm developed from a tropical wave in the western Caribbean Sea on October 22. It quickly got bigger and stronger after becoming a tropical depression. It was then upgraded to a tropical storm six hours later. Sandy moved slowly northward toward the Greater Antilles and got stronger. On October 24, Sandy made landfall in Jamaica and was upgraded to a hurricane. Sandy made a second landfall in Cuba, where it became a Category 3 hurricane.
Category 3 major hurricane (SSHWS/NWS) | |
Formed | October 22, 2012 |
---|---|
Dissipated | November 2, 2012 |
(Extratropical after October 29) | |
Highest winds | 1-minute sustained: 115 mph (185 km/h) |
Lowest pressure | 940 mbar (hPa); 27.76 inHg |
Fatalities | 233 total |
Damage | $68.7 billion (2012 USD) (Fourth-costliest hurricane in U.S. history) |
Areas affected | Greater Antilles, Bahamas, most of the eastern United States (especially the coastal Mid-Atlantic States), Bermuda, eastern Canada |
Part of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season | |
At least 43 people were killed: 40 in the Caribbean and three in the Bahamas. On October 25, Sandy got weaker and became a Category 1 hurricane. On October 27, Sandy became a tropical storm for a few hours. It then became a Category 1 hurricane again that morning. On October 26, Washington, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray declared a state of emergency for the nation's capital. That same day the governors of Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia also declared a state of emergency. Landfall in New Jersey came on October 29. Damage was extensive there and in New York. It was the 2nd costliest hurricane behind Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Harvey (2017), Hurricane Maria (2017) and Hurricane Irma (2017).